Firemen in Tights
by kathey'ssis
Summary: It started with a daughter who was afraid and a father who was willing to do what ever it would take to put her at ease  'Perhaps we should dance,'  it continued in "The Nutcracker' now one high ranked Chief is looking at some interesting statistics.
1. Chapter 1

It started with a frightened Daughter who was concerned for her firefighter father's safety. When said father couldn't convince his daughter he'd be safe any other way he still loved her enough to put his pride where ever it needed to go to get it out of the way while he did what he could to make it possible for her to sleep the nights he was on duty. _(Perhaps we should Dance)_ It proceeded to said father doing all in his power to help his daughter build meaningful happy memories during her school years. _(The Nutcracker)_ Now there's a Chief in the highest ranks of the department who's looking at some very interesting statistics. Some very interesting statistics indeed. Oh boy, are the guys on Station 51's A shift in for it.

The men of Station 51 A shift were lined up along the hall in the x-ray department. Six men moaning in pain, Hank Stanley pushed himself up on his elbow sliding his feet till they hung over the side of the gurney around the side bars that had been put up to prevent him from doing just that. Not a good idea, it was very painful to move to say the least. As much as he tried he just wasn't able to get to his feet or even a fully sitting position, even if he did he had no idea what he'd do. But he was a fire captain, and he had to see for himself that his men were all right, to somehow see to their needs. They had all gone down on his command, they had all gone down following his commands, how could he have let that happen?

Twice they came to take him in for his x-rays and twice he insisted that one of the others were taken before him. Finally there was no one to send ahead of him, he was rolled in to the x-ray room and helped over to the smooth hard table of the x-ray machine.

As he lay still the fire that had put them there raced through his mind.

It had been a structure fire at a well known refinery, a refinery that was often in violation of fire code but with the economy as it was and the threat of all of those employed by the company being forced out of work a political leader up for reelection gave them some leeway and granted them time to correct their problems. When they didn't meet the deadline he granted them more time. There wasn't a firefighter in the valley that didn't know the place, and several like it, were a time bomb waiting to go off.

Station 51 had made several responses to this refinery in the last year. For the most part the calls included small trash fires or minor injuries caused by worn out equipment, they were expecting more of the same when this call came in. Dispatch must have felt the same because they only called out the one station. Of course there had been another big response at the time, a bomb threat in a down town hotel that was packed with patrons attending several conventions in the area. The call had been intensified when a smoke bomb did go off just as emergency personnel arrived. That was the point when the hotel establishment decided they should start to evacuate the building.

Hank had been listening to the radio chatter surrounding the Hotel response and shaking his head, he could hear the frustration in his counter parts voices even through their professional manner as they reported their situation and standings to Dispatch explaining why they needed more help. When the tones sounded overhead he expected that his was one of the stations being sent to that location.

"Okay I need you to take a deep breath and hold it," Hank responded to the x-ray technician, before returning to his memories. To think he had actually felt relieved that he and his crew were being sent somewhere else.

-0-

Hank was being rolled back into the hall now, his jaw clenched tight and his hands griping the edge of the gurney in attempts to out stubborn the pain he was in.

Chief McConnike was waiting for him along with someone from department investigations.

"We'll be getting the x-rays to the doctor in just a few minutes," the technician tried to encourage, "you should be feeling a lot better real soon."

'Not likely,' Hank thought to himself as he was rolled up against the wall once again and he quickly looked around for the rest of his men. All five of them were still there most moaning in pain three still on oxygen, a couple of nurses running around applying ice packs and then covering the rest of their bodies with warmed blankets. All of them still had IV's

It was a hand on his shoulder pushing him back flat on his gurney that caused Hank to look into the eyes of his superior standing next to him. "What happened out there Hank? I need to know every last detail."

Hank sighed and rolled his head in frustration and pain, but he had a story to tell and he dam well was going to make sure it got told before another response was sent to that refinery, before another firefighter was injured or worse killed. That place had been allowed to get by without making improvements long enough and while he was at it that senator needed to be replaced not reelected.

As Hank started to talk he was back there once again. _He could actually feel the pot holes the fire engine was driving through at the moment he first got sight of the thunderhead of smoke that awaited him._

"_LA Station 51, we have a fully involved building here, request an additional two full battalions dispatched to our location." Hank had called out from two blocks away but even when he heard the 10-4 from dispatch he knew that with the hotel situation in full swing help was going to be a while in coming, hopefully they would have everyone evacuated here and they wouldn't have to go inside._

_Hank ordered Gage to hook up duels from a block away and when Stoker stopped to let him get a hold of the hose he needed to follow orders Hank swung out of the cab to meet the person who was running in his direction._

"_It just exploded and some of the pipes broke, with all this gas everywhere the flames went poof like crazy, two of my men are still on the catwalk in the main warehouse, they went down after the third explosion and haven't moved since." Hanks worse fears were spelled out._

_Hank was able to grab hold of the back hand rail and pull himself up on the tail board to ride the rest of the way to the building and after applying a hose clamp pulled the handy talkie in his pocket to his mouth. _

"_We have two men inside I need everyone geared up, Kelly and Lopez each of you pull a two and a half Gage, DeSoto let's move it."_

"We all went in together," Hank continued to tell the story, "Kelly and Lopez each were manning a hose with me between them as back up. Gage and DeSoto stayed close to help out with the hose as we walked across the cat walk then when we got close to the men they moved through the fog and got to the victims. They were both alive so they hoisted them on their shoulders and moved back around the linemen to let us cool the path out. That's when the catwalk collapsed dropping us all the eight feet to the floor, followed by another two quick explosions."

"There we were in one big heap hoses flying wild, I couldn't move and it didn't appear as anyone else could either. The next thing I know the hose are laying limp and Mike's charging in to get us all out."

Hank paused in his narrative and once more tied to lift his head to look around. Mike was the one lying farthest from him, still lying on a back board with a soft C Collar around his neck. Since he hadn't been in any of the explosions and there was no concern of a head injury he had been given something, a rather strong something, for his pain and he was blissfully out of it.

"Mike got us all out, he started by shouldering one of our original victims then taking hold of the caller of the other one dragged him out before coming back. Next he took Gage and DeSoto; he was able to put both of their arms around his shoulders and walk them out and set them down next to the squad where they were able to start treatment on the other victims. Kelly was out, so Mike had to shoulder him but Lopez just hurt his leg, as long as he could lean on Mike he was able to hobble out. I was trying to get up but my back started to spasm and I couldn't seem to move not to mention my leg, for a moment I thought my hip was broken but now I'm sure I just pulled a muscle in my groin. Still hurts like hell.

"Mike just grabbed a hold of my collar and pulled me up and slung me over his shoulder and started to run. I heard him groan in pain when he lifted me, he must have hurt his back before he got to me.

"We were half way to the engine when the next explosion went off." Mike went down to his knees and couldn't move any more. It was all I could do to roll off from his back then there was nothing we could do but lay there and wait for help to arrive."

"Do you know if you split your helmet when the catwalk collapsed or was it a result of one of the explosions?" the investigator questioned.

"I didn't know it was split. . . . But I would most likely suspect it was from the fall." Hank answered and took in another agonizing breath as he groaned and tried to shift to a slightly more comfortable position. There was no such position. "That must be why their worried about me having a head injury."

As the investigator continued to write what had been said Hank noticed two doctors coming their way and stopping to give the nurses instructions.

Hank was grateful that Dr. Brackett bypassed the rest of the men and came straight to him. "I'm pleased to inform you that there are no broken bones on you or any of your men. We do have quite a variety of muscle strains and possibly some tears but with proper physical therapy we should get you all back to work in a matter of weeks."

"So all of my men are going to be alright?" Hank questioned.

"Every last one of them, including the two you pulled off the catwalk." Brackett smiled, "From what I've seen on the news you're all extremely lucky."

Hank rested his head back on the gurney arching his hurting back slightly and let out a sigh of relief and a groan of pain simultaneously.

"We're going to keep you all at least overnight, I've ordered muscle relaxants and appropriate pain medication all the way around. We'll do our best to make sure you don't remember your stay here." Dr. Brackett smirked as the nurse stepped up to his side and started to organize the syringes in her hand and double check her patient's identity and the meds she had collected.

"Hank!" was heard just then and Hank's attention was pulled to the elevator at the end of the hall to see his wife running in his direction.

Hank managed to pull his hand up for her to talk a hold of as he started to feel the first effects of the medications being injected into his IV.

"I'll be fine," he reassured, "just pulled muscles and a few bruises," he was fighting to stay awake now, "Remind me to put Mike in for commendation when I wake up, and could you call Jennie and see if she can pencil us all i—" Hank's head then rolled slightly to the side, he was out.

Chief McConnike sighed in relief as the pain contorted face of this Captain under his stead melted into calm rest.

He already knew that the Jennie he had talked to his wife about was One Jennie Martin. A Physical Therapist who as well as running a dance studio, rehabbed injured muscles using the art of dance, most often the art of Ballet.

That this particular Captain used Ballet to stay on his game and even one step ahead of the rest was the worst kept secret in the department. He'd majorly contributed to that. But there wasn't a fireman in the department who would dare to say a word about it, either to his face or behind his back, at least not lately. For various reasons they all knew better.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Hank was awaken by a moan of pain, his brain felt like he was swimming through some kind of smoke. Remembering the fire and feeling the panic of needed to get his men and himself out Hank's heart rate quickened along with his breathing. His first attempt to move brought pain enough to take his breath away but he managed to keep from crying out. Laying still and trying to catch his breath Hank was able to take in his surroundings. The first thing he noticed was a sloshy bag of ice in a very embarrassing place between his legs, then the blankets in his hands seemed to defy being in a fire of any kind, anywhere.

Before he managed to pry his eyes open the sounds and smells reminded Hank he was at Rampart and the pain under the bag of ice reminded him of the splits he had been forced into when he and his men fell from the collapsed catwalk.

Hearing the sound of moaning again Hank rolled his head to the side the best he could without insighting more pain than was necessary. The next bed had the curtain drawn around it and Hank could only make out the shadows of three people working around the bed, whoever it was in the bed was getting help. Feeling certain it was one of his men Hank listened.

"Can you tell me what you were doing when you first felt the pain in your back?" a familiar sounding female voice was heard that Hank just couldn't place.

"I had pulled the first guy over my shoulder in a fireman carry hold and since I was the only one there and things were hot, I knew I had to hurry if I was going to get everyone out, I bent to the side to take hold of the next guy's collar and I felt it then." Mike explained with an obvious grimace to his voice.

"And then you hauled five more men out after that," the next voice he heard belonged to Dr. Brackett.

A smirk, "Not like I could just leave 'em in there." Mike responded.

"We'll get you right again," the female voice spoke again. Two of the three shadows moved together and started talking while the third was seen smoothing out the blankets

"Nurse," Dr. Brackett called out and handed the third shadow the patients chart.

Hank had painfully managed to roll over till his was flat on his back just as the drape was pulled and two people stepped in his direction, Dr. Brackett and Jennie Martin.

"I believe this is one of your star students," Dr. Brackett pointed to Hank as he gave a stunned silent reply. "It's good to see your finally awake, how are you feeling."

"Like I wish I was still out of it." Hank answered before turning his attention to Jennie. "I'm surprised to see you here, I didn't know you made house calls, I mean, when I'm not sure what I mean." Hank stumbled across his words before finally collapsing into his pillow, "Thanks for coming."

"Emily gave me a call," Jennie started with a sympathetic look in her eyes. "She said the whole platoon was down. I thought I'd come by and see if there was anything I could do to get a jump on your recovery. Dr. Brackett here has been good enough to let me accompany him on his rounds."

"How are my men?" Hank forgot his own pain, "are they alright, how long will they be out?"

Dr. Brackett shared a smirk and a smile with Jennie, "Yes there alright, we'll be sending most of them home later today, to answer your other question I'm afraid it will be between six and ten weeks before you're all back on the job. Some of you may take even longer than that."

"Which ones?" Hank just had to know which of his men was the worst injured.

Dr. Brackett gave a grimace, and then took a deep breath before answering. "Muscle injuries are difficult to judge, they quite often are more painful and take longer to heal than broken bones."

"Why don't you let us have a good look at your leg," Jennie cut in. "Then I think we'll be able to give you a better answer to your question."

"You, you mean," Hank stammered with what he thought was being hinted at. "You're talking about my injuries? Are you trying to tell me I'm the worst injured?"

"I'm afraid so," Dr. Brackett answered reluctantly.

Hank just leaned into his pillow deeper and sighed; unexpectedly, it was a sigh of great relief. "They're really going to be alright?"

"I'm sure they'll all be in to see you as soon as they've had their breakfast." Kelly Brackett gave a warm smile. "Mrs. Martin here would like to look you over and give us a second opinion on the severity of your injury."

Hank just raised his head in relief then gave a nod of approval.

While Dr Brackett pulled the curtain around the bed for privacy Jennie made short work of pulling the sheet and blanket from the bed. She then took the lower portion of his designer hospital gown and tucked it around his more private parts till it was little more than a loincloth.

Hank somehow managed to endure the embarrassment as she placed her hand on his inner thigh. "Can you point your toes?" Jennie instructed. Hank did as he was told and Jennie kept her hand over the colorful and painful muscle found high in his inner thigh, "How does that feel?"

"Smarts a little but not too bad actually," Hank responded.

"Tendue" (pronounced tahn-dew) Jennie commanded not removing her hand from the rather sensitive position she had it in.

Hank braced himself to perform the maneuver she had commanded.

"Slowly, take your time," Jennie counseled as Hank pointed his toes on the injured leg and lifted it straight till his toes were pointing to the ceiling.

"Good, good, now plie, (pronounced Plee –yay)" Jennie continued to command as if he were in her dance studio for a routine work out. Hank then bent his knee while keeping his toes pointed grimacing and groaning in pain as he moved but he still moved, "Very good, now passé, (pronounced pah-say)" Jennie then commanded.

Slowly, deliberately and painfully, but with surprising less pain than he expected, Hank pulled his pointed toes til they were against his other knee with his bent knee out to the side, all the while Jennie kept her hand on the muscle in question. As embarrassed as he was to have the women's hands where he felt only his wife's hands belonged, he knew she was just trying to determine the seriousness of the damage he had done in the area.

"I don't think the muscle is torn at all, Dr. Brackett," Jennie finally removed her hand and pulled the hospital gown back over to cover as much as it could.

"Well I have to agree with you, he never would have been able to make those moves if it was." Dr. Brackett looked rather impressed, "We were sure it was with the unexpected range of motion we noticed once he was sedated."

"He's significantly tighter than he usually is." Jennie reported, "Not unexpected based on his injury. I'm sure the work he's done with me and on his own over the last year or so is why he wasn't hurt worse than he is."

"Well that's one more plus for this therapy program of yours," Kell Brackett spoke cryptically knowing that the Captain lying on the bed before him was rather closed mouthed about his involvement in Ballet. "I know the rest of his men take part in this same program but they're nowhere near as limber as he is."

"I strongly suspect that his men are much less diligent in keeping themselves limber than Hank here is."

"That would be a correct assumption." Mike called out from the next bed, it was clear he was listening in with concern for his captain just as his captain had been listening in with concern for him earlier.

"Now let's check out this back of yours," Jennie continued as she aided Hank in rolling over before putting him through several different moves with his arms and shoulders while she held her hand on the muscles that showed some distress on the left side of his back. As with his leg if there was a ballet term for the move she wanted him to make she used it. It made sense to only use one word where a whole sentence might otherwise be needed, but Hank was still a little, well um, let's say 'shy' about acknowledging to anyone outside of the dance studio that he knew all those words.

As soon as Jennie was finished with her evaluation Hank was helped to lay flat on his back again and a subtle nod was given to the nurse at his side before she produced the syringes from her pocket and started injecting them into Hank's IV line. As Hank started to feel the stupor of pain relief flow through his veins He heard Jennie making recommendations for his continued care, it didn't take long for Hank to understand that he wouldn't be one of the ones going home later today.

The head of Hank's bed was raised, per doctor's orders, to help stretch his traumatized back muscles out gradually. Hank knew from past experiences that as soon as he could get into Jennie's studio she was going to have him stretching for his toes under her careful watch. He knew it was going to hurt but he also knew it wouldn't hurt any more than gutting through everyday movement that he couldn't avoid and with her treatment it wouldn't hurt as long.

Breakfast was brought in and set in front of him, in Hank's stupored state it actually looked good, unfortunately in his stupored state he didn't seem to have the desire to do anything other than look at it.

"You going to be alright Cap?" Mike asked from the next bed.

"Yeah Mike, Jennie says I'm in better shape than the doctors think I am." Hank answered and his drowsy attention was drawn from his food to the sight out the window.

-0-

Once he had finished rounds on the six firemen Kell Brackett turned to his assistant for the morning. "Ms, Martin, could I convince you to join me for breakfast I'd like to talk with you if I may about the work your doing with Captain Stanley and his men."

In the hospital cafeteria Kell carried a tray holding two of the best breakfasts the hospital cooks could muster. After setting it on a corner table where he felt they could talk uninterrupted Kell held the chair for Jennie Martin and then sat down himself.

"I'm going to have to be up front with you Dr. Brackett. I don't think I have the answers you're looking for." Jennie started as she added a little salt to her scrambles eggs. "When I started working with Hank and Kristen Stanley I had no idea where things would lead. I just got a call one day from this frightened little girl who wanted her father to be safe at work. She told me about a magazine article she'd read that claimed that learning Ballet would make him safer and I didn't know anything about nor did I believe a word of it. But my father was a firefighter too and I knew how she felt. Of course I had no idea at the time how totally worried she was. I figured that if her father was willing to come I'd set them up. While I was teaching them how to stretch properly I talked about how my father had retired from the fire department in Chicago, then after their second class I managed to get Hank alone and told him that I couldn't continue to teach him and his daughter if they believed what he learned there was going to keep him from getting hurt on the job.

"That's when he told me that she was so consumed with fear that she could sleep when he was on duty and that he felt he needed to do something to help her come to grips with things. Besides taking the lessons he was also talking to her about everything he did at work to keep him and his men safe. Well I had to agree with him that taking lessons wouldn't do any harm so if he was willing to take lessons, even though he was totally embarrassed to be seen in tights, who was I to tell them I wouldn't teach them. I have never known a man that loved his daughter so much to do anything like that."

"I remember when he was making that decision," Kell added to the conversation when Jennie stopped to eat a few bites. "He had just gotten a minor laceration over his eye and he asked my opinion while I sewed him up. I never knew what he decided until sometime later when he was in a roof collapse at a fire. He'd injured the back of his shoulder and was asking if he could use Ballet as part of his rehab. One of the doctors here laughed at him and found himself immediately dismissed. When I went in to talk to him I found him in a lot of pain but when I told him I'd have to talk with someone else to get an answer for him he was very agreeable and that was before I gave him something for the pain.

"I had to admire the man for being willing to do something like that for his daughter. That's the night I talked to Dr. Crainer and he told me about the success he was having using Ballet in rehab situations. He made it clear that we needed to be sure to get the right therapist but he highly recommended it. Your name was on the top of his list and the one Captain Stanley asked about."

"Well I do have a lot of success in working with geriatric patients, Ballet or at least a form of it works wonders to help teach balance and prevent injuries in the elderly, the warm up routines also work wonders for gaining range of motions after an injury, especially after something like a hip replacement. But Hank Stanley has taken everything a mile or so farther than that."

There was a moment of silence as Jennie moved her food around on her plate as she thought her words through.

"I won't make any claims." Jennie spoke with a strong emphasis on the word 'Won't' "I have no idea what research was done for that article Kristen Stanley showed her father and what I'm about to say is just between you and me because if you repeat it I will deny it. But I think there just might be something to those claims."

Jennie looked surprised that the great Dr. Kelly Bracket wasn't surprised, nor was he challenging her claim.

"I know I've worked with Hank through a few minor injuries this last year. I've been real surprised at how fast he's managed to work his way back in shape. But I never dreamed we could duplicate it until he started bring the rest of his men around when they got hurt."

Again Jennie was surprised that this famed ER Doctor seemed to know all about what she was telling him.

"You have to realize that there is a good chance that it's just the way Hank works with all of his men when he brings them to me. He comes to every session with them and gets right in and does the exorcises right along with them, every single time."

Finally Kell Brackett looked surprised.

Kell took a moment to gain his composure, once he thought about it he was still surprised with Hank Stanley's devotion to his men but then again he wasn't.

"Of course it makes sense to me that anything that increases balance could be an added measure of safety, especially where their working in high places and on ladders and such but Hank told me once that he used a leap of sorts to save himself and several of his men during a fire, did you know about that?" Kell questioned.

"His wife told me about it, When I was helping with the school Christmas production Hank and Kristen were in. Between you and me, I think it was just a fluke," Jennie responded, "I can't imagine that there are very many times when a Grand Jete, (pronounced grahn-zheh-tay) would ever be possible in fire situation. How on earth could they ever get the proper ankle position to perform lift that movement requires with those boots that they wear?"

"Don't get me wrong, I'll work with those men," Jennie continued, "And I'm pretty sure they'll be back to work much faster than you're telling them their going to be, but I'm not going to make any claims or any promises. I only half know why it will work out. You'll just have to check them out and when their ready you can sign whatever forms need to be signed for them to return to duty."

**tendue **

tahn -dew'

Stretched; held-out; tight; a classic ballet movement where the leg is extended straight out from the supporting leg with the foot fully pointed; it can be done front, side, or back.

**plié **

plee-yay'

To bend; a fundamental movement that requires the bending of the knee or knees.

**passé **

pah-say'

To pass; a position and/or movement that requires the working leg to have its foot pointed to the side of the supporting leg's knee.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Emily Stanley had spent the night sitting with her daughter trying to help her deal with this latest injury of her father. They had come in as a family last night but as the Dr. had promised, he was pretty out of it.

Hank had made no sense with what he was saying but he did make his children laugh a little.

This morning when she walked into his room the head of his bed was raised and his eyes were open. "Hi Sweetheart, Hi Michael, how are you two feeling this morning?"

"Hi Emily, I'm doing better," Mike responded to his captain's wife, "They're going to let me go home later today and let Laura take care of me. I just have to make sure I don't pick up the boys for a while yet. Your husband is still trying to decide where he is I think. But he did get a good report from the doctor this morning."

Emily walked over to her husband and stroked the side of his face. "Morning sweetheart," she crooned as he turned his face towards her. "You haven't touched your breakfast are you not hungry?"

Emily had already spent the night talking to her daughter, but from the beginning she knew Hank was going to have a difficult time because he took his command seriously, but he took the safety of his men personally.

"No, it looks good," Hank answered his wife after a delay, "I, a, it looks good."

Emily smiled realizing that Mike had been right on and the Dr. was still keeping him comfortable. She started to feed her husband; several times she had to wake him up for the next bite.

"Em," Hank mumbled once she had gotten most of his meal into him. "Em?"

"I'm right here Hank what do you need."

"Tell, tell them to cut back on the drugs, and I need, I need them to take these, these crib rails away so I can go, go, did they tell you where the bathroom is?"

Emily pressed the call button and a nurse quickly responded, "He needs to go to the bathroom." She explained.

A hand held urinal was offered and rejected as was a bed pan. Moving as quickly as she could the nurse rolled a bedside commode into the room and two nurses and a strong orderly were called into action to help him out of bed.

"You need to be sure to lean on Hal there; the doctor doesn't want you to put any weight on that right leg just yet." The lead nurse explained only to watch Hank put full weight on his right leg as he fought to make his own way to the commode.

"OWW," Hank hissed when he did so.

When he had finished his business he pushed his body up and was feeling along the top and side rails of the bedside commode.

"Let's get you back in bed Mr. Stanley," the Nurse tried to lead him the two steps back to bed.

"Can't find the lever to flush this thing," Hank objected till the nurse smiled and promised to take care of everything.

Once he was back in bed Hank insisted Emily be the one to place the fresh ice pack on his leg and she managed to stay at his side throughout the morning as he mostly dozed through the day.

Mike was helped out of bed and with his wife under one arm and a physical therapist holding onto the other arm he was taken for a walk down the hall. When he returned and was sat on the side of the bed, he was sitting up a little straighter than he had been when he left and reported that he thought he felt a little better.

By the time lunch was brought around Hank was able to carry on a coherent conversation. The doctor had reduced his pain meds as was requested. He was also showing more signs of discomfort but insisted that he prefer it that way.

After lunch each of his men drifted through on their way home. Marco and Chet were the first; they had shared a room and were being discharged at the same time. Both men had a concussion, but Marco only sported a bandage on his head. Chet also had a soft neck brace on, and it was clear that any attempt to move his neck was painful; he also sported some impressive color around one eye and down his left cheek. They were both relieved to see that their Captain and Mike were going to be alright as Mike was now dressed to leave and sitting in a wheelchair waiting for his wife to get off duty. Before the three men left a fourth wheel chair was moved in and Roy was happy to see the rest of the crew. He had shared a room with Johnny for the night and knew he was alright but it was good to see the rest.

As soon as Mike was wheeled out of the room and on his way Chief McConnike slipped in. In his hands were the papers Hank needed to fill out to make sure Mike received his commendation for his actions. The chief helped him to fill them out and then Hank applied the necessary signature. Before he left the Chief informed Hank that every member of the team had filled out the same paperwork and so did the four men at the refinery, as far as he was concerned Mike was guaranteed the commendation.

Johnny, who was the only other team member to spend a second night in the hospital, was moved in to take over Mike's bed just before dinner.

"So why weren't you sprung with the rest of the crew?" Hank asked to keep from groaning as he was waiting for his lighter pain meds to kick in after dinner.

"They don't think I'm ready to be on my own yet, all the others have family to help take care of them." John answered and Hank understood, "JoAnne offered to take me home with them but don't know if I can handle the kids trying to jump on my stomach right now, besides she's already got Roy to take care of. Dr. Brackett agreed with me and thought that was enough."

"Probably right," Hank got out as he shifted his position yet again to try and find a comfortable position.

"This way you have someone to keep you company Cap." Johnny added watching his captain fidget in pain. "Has the doctor told you when he's going to let you out of here?"

"Yeah," Hank sighed as he pushed against the mattress with his hands trying to find some relief for his leg. "As soon as it's safe for me to put some weight on this leg and I can get around on crutches."

John pushed his call button and when the nurse entered the room he quickly pointed to his captain in the next bed. A quick set of vitals proved he needed more and stronger medication and Hank was soon out for the night.

John was released late the next day and Marco came with his brother to give him a ride home and stock his refrigerator.

Hank remained one more day before he was able to convince the Doctor that he was going to get out of bed whether he wanted him to or not. It was clear that it was going to take his wife to make him behave because the nurses could not, not even by filling him full of drugs.

Before he was allowed to go home an elastic bandage had been applied to his upper thigh to support his injury, as soon as he arrived home it was taken off. There had been a particular pair of tights that had been bought for him, at the time he felt them a little stiff and heavy so they were put away until his others wore out. Now however they were just what he needed to give his strained muscle and his hip joint the support they needed without the annoyance of multiple layers of elastic bandage slipping, sliding and bunching up in his groin. The tights were a definite improvement over what the doctors had done. The next time Emily went shopping she picked up another pair, now they had one to wash and one to wear. Wearing a pair of sweatpants over the top of them created a gentle warmth that helped to loosen up the injured muscle.

This wasn't the first back strain Hank had worked through, the very next day as soon as his daughter returned home from school and was there to work out with him, two chairs were placed in the living room after the rug had been rolled away. While sitting in one chair to keep the weight off of his leg Hank held the back of the other while he worked through his stretching routine. Two days later Jennie stopped by to check on him. Since her studio was on top of her garage and only accessible by climbing a long flight of stairs, she felt Hank's first few sessions should be at home. She found he was already doing everything she was going to suggest for his back and most of what she was going to start him on for his leg, all with positive results. She only made the one visit.

On Hank's first follow up with Dr. Brackett, the doctor was surprised by the tights. After examining them closely he was even more surprised, but he had to agree that they worked fine.

"I'm going to have to keep these in mind and recommend them to others with similar injuries." Dr. Brackett had said before he took the crutches and replaced them with a cane. Hank was also given the clearance to climb the stairs to Jennie's studio. Now he could work out with his whole crew and he was eager to see how they were all doing.

After spending the afternoon on the phone with his men Hank learned that all of them were doing physical therapy at the hospital outpatient department. They were all making progress but none of them were getting the kind of results their captain was, after talking to him they were ready to try his suggestion.

Hank was able to work things out with Jennie to get them all in the studio at the same time. With the DeSoto's and Marco picking up the two that were still unable to drive Hank arrived early to get his warm up stretches out of the way before the rest arrived, it wasn't like he had anything else to do.

Because their injuries were all different each person had to be worked with individually but once they were given their instructions Hank was able to sit next to them, at times sitting on the floor, and coach them through the moves Jennie had described while she moved on to the next injured man.

Mike's back was proving to be more of a problem than other injuries and it was learned that there were times he just couldn't refuse to pick up his five month old sons.

During a private consultation with Jennie, Mike revealed his discomfort with wearing tights.

Jennie carefully explained to him her need to watch each of the muscles as he performed the moves she was instructing him to do. "I need to see them to one, make sure your doing the move properly and two, to see how your injured muscles are responding to those moves."

Mike was then given the opportunity to wear short shorts to his sessions. And he did the next time.

That particular session there was a group of college girls, at the studio, who belonged to a team that performed during half time of the college sports events. They were set up at the other end of the studio working on a routine while the firemen worked out on the other end.

Mike spent most of his session red faced due to the dreamy sighs and giggling glances directed at him. The next session Mike wore the tights, Chet and Johnny however wore short shorts.

That was the day the Hipsters, a group of ladies from the nearby senior citizen center, were there, each one of them recovering from some kind of hip surgery. They also thought the short shorts were something to giggle at but the worst came when two of the ladies started fighting over weather pantyhose or a girdle would help John's strained abdominal muscles.

Since all of the sessions were held in the early afternoon, before school let out but after Jennifer DeSoto got out of her morning Kindergarten, Jennifer was often in attendance. Since this therapy was getting better results for Roy than he was getting at the hospital it was decided to sign Jennifer up for lessons for as long as her father was in therapy.

Emily Stanley often worked with her during her time there so they were given a very good discount. Hank would glance at his wife and Jennifer from time to time, Little Jenny wasn't really taking her lessons seriously and for the most part was play acting at being a dancer but Emily was cute with her. For a moment he thought of having another child, then he thought it might be better at this point in their lives to wait for grandchildren.

After three weeks Hank was released to part time light duty with the department. Hank drove to headquarters to get his assignment, preparing to request that his schedule be worked out so that he could continue the group therapy sessions. John had already been put on dispatch duty and Mike was to start there in two days. Their assignments were already cutting into their therapy sessions and Hank had taken to hold special sessions for them at night in his garage. Mike's back was still going in to spasm on him nearly every day so Johnny recommended a chiropractor and Mike agreed to make an appointment.

Marco had just been released for full duty and was expected to start back on the next shift. Roy was helping out in the recruiting department. He didn't know about Chet, but when he pulled up at the headquarters building and noticed a familiar van just a few parking spaces from where he was parking; he had a pretty good idea.

Chet was actually sitting in the waiting area when Hank entered the building, before they were able to exchange more than pleasantries Chet was sent to one office while Hank was instructed to visit with Chief Houts.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Hank stopped at the door with the name Chief Houts painted on it. Twice he reached up to knock only to pull back and take a deep breath. On his third attempt he carried through and when the door was opened the High Chief looked happy to see him.

Hank was given a firm hand shake and he noticed he was watched carefully as he walked to the chair he was directed to and sat down.

"You're looking a whole lot better than I expected you to be from these reports I've been reading," the Chief commented as he took his place behind his desk and pulled one of the many files that were on his desk into his hands and opened it up. "That was some fire you responded to," He spoke while perusing the file in his hand. "you should have never been responded alone on that one, with all the hullabaloo on the hotel bombing down town at the same time, we'd of had to pull from out of the response area but we should have got them on the way in the beginning and then turned them around if it turned out that we didn't need them. I've filed a reprimand with the Dispatching Department so hopefully that will never happen again. Still you did one hell of a job out there."

"Thank you Sir." Hank responded to the pause after the compliment given to him.

"Your entire crew will be receiving commendations for your actions that day. Engineer Michael Stoker will receive a second one for what he did in getting all of you out after everything went wrong. We're just trying to decide when and where to present them to you. I usually try to wait till the recipients are back on the job unless it looks like a career ending injury."

"I know I'm not expecting anything, I'm pretty sure the rest of my men feel the same way. We were doing our job as always. Whenever and wherever you choose will be fine." Hank responded feeling very humble.

"Don't you have a trip to New York with your daughter's dance group coming up?" the chief asked and Hank once again blushed that his high commander had seen him performing a ballet, in fact a very large number of his fellow members of the fire department had been there at least one of the three night.

"My wife informed them that I probably wouldn't be able to accompany them after the accident," Hank informed. He was really both remorseful and relieved about not being able to chaperone a bunch of teenagers to a large city where he just knew at least one of them was going to get lost, injured or worse. "They're still hopeful but I understand that with the time I've been off so far since the accident that I need to return to work even if it is only a desk job for the time being."

"I'm sure there is going to be a lot of walking involved in this trip are you physically up to that?" Chief Houts questioned, "Have you even spoke with your doctor along those lines?"

"Um, no sir," Hank squirmed in his chair, "as I told you I understand that I've had my time off and feel a need to return to work."

"Well your first assignment is to find out from your doctor if this trip is something you can do without setting you back as far as reaching full duty readiness." The Chief surprised Hank, "you worked hard and earned the right to go and it will be great PR for the department to have you along."

Hank blushed and squirmed a little more at the term 'PR' being used. No one makes it to the level of high Chief without noticing that sort of thing.

"Relax; I'm not going to have you followed by a bunch of TV cameras." The Chief started to calm the blushing Captain before him. "The PR I'm talking about is the influence you have on those kids. You forget, I know about the incident with the smoke bomb, but I don't think you know that I also know about the incident with the young diabetic. The principle had a lot to say to me while we were planning that little presentation for you and it was well worth listening to. He told me how you not only took care of the incident and assured the young girl got proper care quickly, but he also told me how you gathered the cast and talked to them about drug abuse and about the importance of giving information on their friends who might be using. He said that you had gained a trust with those young people that very few adults ever achieve. I was very impressed at the way that you took advantage of that situation and used that advantage for the better. I also know that you went to the hospital and talked with the girl's parents and all that you did to make it possible for that young girl to continue on with the production.

"I also noticed the looks on each of the cast member's faces the night of the presentation; they knew they were important to someone when you introduced each and every one of them to me, remembering not only the part they played but their name also. That's the kind of PR I'm talking about. You can bet that none of those kids will be building oversized smoke bombs in the near future, and they'll be a positive influence on the kids they pall around with. That kind of influence sure makes our job a lot easier."

Hank sat stunned at the high Chief's words.

"Besides with as many of you on light duty as there are right now, I'm running out of desk jobs," the chief added with a smile.

Hank added a nervous smile but remained quiet.

Chief Houts then leaned forward on his desk and took straight at the nervously squirming fire Captain in front of him. "You can tell me it's none of my business if you like, that's fine with me, but I'm going to ask any way. What prompted you to take up Ballet?"

Hank filled his cheeks with air and slowly blew it out. "Well Sir, I have a daughter that was having a hard time being a fireman's daughter." Hank began, "She was extremely worried about me getting injured or even killed on the job. So much so that she wasn't able to sleep on the nights I was on shift.-"

Hank continued till he told the story of her falling while trying to run off a Caffeine high before showing him a magazine article and how in time he realized it wouldn't hurt so gave it a try to help put her at ease while he helped her work through her fears. Then he added that he did feel a little more flexible and that ballet worked on muscles in ways regular calisthenics didn't. Finally he admitted that he was enjoying the closeness with his daughter as he watched her excel in her dancing.

He had no intention of telling him about the incident in the warehouse where he jumped across a opening made by a floor collapse to get to his men.

When he finished speaking the Chief leaned back in his chair with a look of wonder on his face. After a moment of silence he picked up another file from his desk and opened it. He silently read for a while glancing over the top of the file at Hank from time to time. "Can you explain to me why everyone of your men have joined you, , in the dance studio?" The chief chose to try and be discrete since the captain before him still seemed somewhat, in the closet, about his dancing.

Hank again squirmed as he silently thought hard about how to answer that question. "Well, I, um, I guess they've seen how it's helped me, especially after an injury, and gave it a try."

"Well there must be something to it," the chief tossed the file down on the desk and looked at Hank. "Your men are recovering twice as fast as any other firemen with the same injuries. At the rate your going you're all going to be back to full duty in half the time the doctors expected you to at the time of your injuries. Usually it takes significantly longer than the doctor's prognosis because we have to make sure you can do the heavy lifting and are as close to 100 percent as possible before we can put you back out on the line."

The Chief paused for a moment watching closely, "When you get back from your trip, and yes I'm pretty sure you'll be going, I would like you to put together a report telling me about this type of physical therapy and its positive effects, and then I want to meet with you and all of your men."

When Hank left the Chief's office he went straight to a public phone and called his wife. After telling her what the Chief and he had talked about he then called the hospital to see about getting an appointment to see Dr. Brackett. He was told to come right in and the doctor would speak with him as soon as possible, when he got there he found Dr. Brackett at the nurse's desk waiting for him.

-0-

"Well, I have to agree with your Chief," Dr. Brackett talked with Hank after he'd examined him and giving him the green light to go on the trip to New York. "What I've seen in the recovery of you and your men is nothing short of truly remarkable, your own injuries especially. If it's alright with you I'd like to read a copy of that report when you get it done. It just might affect the kind of therapy I recommend in the future, particularly when it comes to firemen."

-0-

When the group got together for their next work out everyone was sharing details of their light duty assignments. When Hank told them what his was the room turned suddenly silent.

"Are you sure that qualifies as light duty Cap," Mike could only think of the weight of the luggage he'd be carrying.

"News of this gets out their going to have firemen getting hurt on purpose," Chet countered.

"Na, it's one of those perks of learning how to dance so well." Johnny contended, "Hey Cap can you bring me back a picture of the Rockets?"

"Hey yeah, me too," Chet chimed in again.

"I'll see what I can do," Hank smirked.

Roy had been looking at his daughter who just happened to be working with Kristen while he was doing his work out. Jenifer was arguing that Kristen wasn't teaching her right and when Kristen explained that boys and girls danced differently Jenifer insisted on learning to dance like a boy so that she could dance with her daddy.

"I'll tell you what Cap. When Jenifer goes on one of these trips I'll give them you and Emily's name and number." Roy had done a few stints of chaperoning and knew it was no picnic. He had been chaperoning when he first saw his Captain dancing on stage and had been so wrapped up in getting the boys to behave he didn't realize he was watching his Captain until he made his final bow.

-0-

Ten days later Hank was herding a bunch of excited and rambunctious teenage boys through the boarding tunnel and onto a plane headed for New York, New York. Already on board was his wife who was working to get the girls, including their daughter, seated. The rest of their children were staying with the Stokers until they returned. Hank only hoped that they'd help with the twins and allow Mike's back to heal while he was gone.

When Hank and Emily finally took their seats, together but between the two groups of students, Hank looked at his wife as he buckled his seat belt, "Are we having fun yet?"

Seven hours and three filled barf bags later the plane was landed again and Hank was herding his charges off the plane and directing them in gathering their suitcases. Hank himself followed his doctor's advice and invested in a cart for his, his wife's and Daughter's luggage. He was very careful when he lifted the bags off the conveyor belt making sure he had all of his weight over his good leg and lifting in that manner.

For the next six days Hank somehow managed to keep his charges together while they toured the main attractions of New York. He also learned that a casual walk in New York was closer to what these Californians thought of as a jog, that he was grateful for elevators; he sure would have hated life if he'd had to climb the stairs to the top of the Empire State Building, and that boy's who got air sick also got sea sick. The same three that threw up on the plane also threw up on the boat ride to Elis Island. Thank heavens for barf bags.

There were nights his leg told him he had done too much, but not every night, Hank managed to keep up on his physical therapy by working out with the group and welcomed every opportunity to help his daughter show off her skills. Unknown to him there were representatives from the Rockets watching and they earned the group an invitation to watch the famous dance troop rehearse. An hour of watching them rehearse and everyone was tired, still some of the group accepted the invitation to go on stage and work on the chorus line with the dancers. Just for fun of course.

During the competitions their group walked away with several awards. Then, Six days, twelve rolls of film, another seven hours on a plane and four filled barf bags later, Hank and his wife were herding their charges to the bus that would take them back to the school where parents would relieve them of their charges. Hank made sure to inform a few parents of the need for Dramamine for any future trips.

They were tired and in need of a day to just catch up on their sleep but Hank realized that he wouldn't have missed it for the world. Emily shared the same feelings with Laura Stoker when she picked up the rest of her charges.

Arriving in the mail a few days later were professionally done pictures showing Hank and Kristen dancing in the chorus line with the Rockets. Emily was eager to get them in the family photo album even though she knew the only time she'd be able to show them to anyone outside the immediate family, was if Hank wasn't home.

Authors Notes:

I did a very brief rundown of the reason Hank got into dancing choosing not to repeat the story if anyone hasn't read it and wants to, that story is 'Perhaps we should Dance.' .net/s/4989506/1/Perhaps_We_Should_Dance

The details of the smoke bomb and the incident with the Diabetic student, along with details of the presentation ceremony can be found in 'The Nutcracker.' .net/s/6518251/1/the_Nutcracker

Nickel knowledge concerning chapter 3, it is limited knowledge that men wearing pantyhose or a girdle helps to relieve pain when suffering a hernia, My father has had two such surgeries as well as my husband, as well as some lower back pain. The reason for the limited knowledge in my opinion is that even thought it helps the men who wear them will never admit it. Similar items are now specially designed for men but are hard to find and very few men that I know of will ask for them, the pantyhose or girdle's they can get their wives to pick up and pretend they're for them.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Hank actually started his second assignment while he was on the plane. He had delusions of finishing his report while he was in the motel room after the day's activities but that was a joke. There wasn't enough time to sleep as it was on this trip. It was only due to the upset stomachs on board the plane that he didn't sleep on the flight.

Armed with facts and data Hank finished it before he went to the studio the day after he got back. When he returned, disappointed that none of the rest of the crew were able to attend, he found his wife sitting in the overstuffed chair reading it over.

"So what do you think?" Hank asked as he handed her a glass of her favorite ice tea with a squeeze of fresh lemon added.

Emily took a long pleasure filled sip of her iced tea then slowly set it down on the chair side table before looking at Hank, "It's rather good, for as far as it goes, but I feel there's one more factor I'm not sure you've realized."

Hank and Emily talked until the children returned home from school. While Emily was fixing dinner Hank wrote four more pages and added a summery, the part Emily had convinced him to add was about the camaraderie of working together for a common goal and sharing the journey back to full health. Hank had had to admit that even with earlier injuries he had his daughter working out at his side and even though they weren't working on the same muscles or skills it gave him a reason to keep working and as a result he was more diligent in his own rehab.

Later that evening while Hank helped his children with their homework, Emily made short work of typing up the report with two carbon copies.

The next day Hank dressed in his uniform and hand delivered the reports. One to Chief Houts, who was in a meeting when he arrived so he left it with his secretary, the second to Dr. Brackett who was out that day so Hank left it with Nurse McCall who promised she would see to it that he got it.

From there Hank went to Jennie's studio where he assisted in a couple of group sessions of a rehab nature so that he could learn what he needed to know to be able to run work out sessions for his men in the evenings when they could all attend, except for Marco he could only come when he was off shift but he did enjoy being with the rest of his crew so he did come. Marco had been working with a different crew each shift and was looking forward to having his teammates back so that he didn't have to relearn how to be a team player every shift.

Two days after the evening sessions began Hank was called into a meeting with the Chief and when he arrived he was surprised to find waiting to go into the office with him were each of his men. Even Marco had been pulled from his shift to attend the meeting. When they were invited into the office where sufficient seating had been brought in they were all surprised to find Dr. Brackett and Jennie Martin sitting there. They had participated in a previous meeting and were going to be joining them for theirs.

"Well Gentlemen," the Chief started and it was clear he was talking to the gathered firefighters so it wasn't necessary to add something to include Jennie. "Dr. Brackett, myself and Mrs. Martin here have been talking over the report Captain Stanley as written about your, well, um, should we just say therapy program."

Everyone in the room knew what he was talking about and although all of the firemen were blushing there was a sort of embarrassed giggle that answered the high Chief. "We are all amazed by the rapid recovery that you have made and have been making every time you've been injured during this last year. Which I will add the number of injuries are markedly reduced over the previous year and lower than any other station in the valley, not a lot mind you, there is still room for improvement but I whole heartedly support the moves you are making."

The Chief paused to look at each or the firemen before looking back at Dr. Bracket and Jennie and then leaning on the front of his desk trying to sort his next words out.

"I'm going to ask you men to step out of your comfort zone in order to help your other brothers in the department be able to accept the advances you have discovered." Six men swallowed hard, five men sat up straighter in their chairs and three of them had their mouths open as they stared at their highest superior.

"I think," The Chief moved ahead without further comment, "That we should take that Junior High school Dance teacher's offer to help you men stage a production in an effort to make everyone feel a little less like this is a program that is inappropriate for someone of your manly profession."

Every firefighter in the room sat fixated on the Chief before them, the room was so silent you could have heard a feather drop.

"You've got to be joking. . . . Right?" Chet was the first to find his voice as he continued to stare down his supreme commander.

Several of the others in the room were turning to their immediate superior to see his response.

"If Captain Stanley can do it," John spoke next followed by a couple of hard swallows and then a deep sigh, "I'll give it a try."

"I'm with Johnny," Marco added.

"I'm in," Roy added hesitantly.

"Are we going to have to wear tights to perform in this production?" Mike just had to know what was going to be expected of him.

Hank just bowed his head to hide the emotion leaking from his eyes, but everyone noticed as he wiped it away with his fingers.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll do it too," Chet consented; he too held a lot of respect for his captain.

The silence was allowed to linger long enough for the men to come to grips with their new assignment then they talked about a few, details. The Department would be supporting this production with a small budget to go towards costumes and backdrops. Jennie Martin offered to help any way she could. The men were to choose one of more of the firefighting charities to be the recipient of the proceeds from the production.

-0-

The next evening, when Marco was off duty, the six men gathered in Hank's garage. The cars had been pulled out to the end of the driveway and the Stanley boys had thoroughly cleaned the floor prior to the men's arrival. While Kristen Stanley to Jennifer DeSoto to one side of the garage to work with her the six firemen followed their Captain's lead in stretching out. While they stretched they talked among themselves.

Choosing a production to undertake was beyond them at the moment so they focused on choosing a charity. In time they whittled it down to two, the widows and orphans' fund and the firemen's fund. Not sure how much they might raise the men decided to work with both. It was Emily Stanley who bought it up that their budget would go farther if they got the axillaries of both of those funds involved in the presentation and let them do much of the back stage work while the men focused on their performances.

The men had just agreed when Jennie stopped by to check on their work and asked. "Have you guys decided which Ballet you would like to perform?"

"Jennie, we haven't got a clue what we're doing here." Hank stepped up as the spokesman for his men. "Do you have any suggestions?"

"Well," Jennie put her finger to the side of her face in thought, "You're all men so I would avoid anything like Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty or Cinderella. I think something more along the lines of, a, let's say A Midsummer's Night Dread, Peter Pan, or a good one would be Coppelia—"

"Peter Pan," Chet, Roy and Marco spoke at the same time bringing Jennie's list to an end.

"Yeah, Yeah," Johnny was nodding his head in approval, "I think Peter Pan would be a great production for us to do."

Hank thought for a moment, "I think I can see myself in the roll of Captain Hook just fine, but what about the girl parts?"

Jennie looked off in the corner where Kristen was showing off by dancing around Jennifer on the tips of her big toes while Jennifer was trying to follow her moves but was not yet strong enough to go up any farther than the balls of her feet. "Well I think we have our Wendy and Tinkerbelle right over there."

The men followed Jennie's gaze and smiled in agreement.

"And you Mr. Stoker would be wonderful in the parts of the dog and the crocodile," Jennie added to help get the show on the road.

"Me? Why me?" Mike had been hoping to be the curtain man or lighting manager.

"Because Mr. Stoker the costumes for those two parts are nothing like tights." Jennie explained with a big grin on her face.

"They aren't? You're right they aren't, I could do that, I could do that!" Mike agreed growing more excited as he talked.

"Now how do we decide who gets to play Peter Pan?" Chet was the one to ask and they all looked at each other then to Jennie for help in making that decision.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The topic of who should dance the part of Peter Pan was discussed in length, Jennie suggested either Marco or Chet, both of them had the right build when compared to the rest of the crew, but neither of them were willing to part with their mustaches for the part.

"Well," Jennie finally moved to table the discussion for the time being. "With a limited cast we're going to have to rewrite the script a little, and of course we need to get you all back on your feet first."

Jennie then choreographed a few dance routines for them to work on together while they were finishing their recoveries. She explained that they would be worked in between scenes while backdrops were moved around and changed and would be where most of the dance skills would be shown off. Before they could go very far with what they were doing, they would need to learn to move together as a team. On their first attempt Roy accidently managed to clobber Chet in the head with his foot as they were working on one particular turn movement. They choose to keep a greater distance between them until they had things down a little better.

Mrs. Merthner, the Jr. High dance teacher who had agreed to help them with their production, was too busy to be able to meet with the men at the time being. She still had three months left in the school year and there were all kinds of dancing competitions she needed to prepare her students for and the end of year dance production for all of the parents. She did however pull from her teaching resources and find a movie of a production of Peter Pan done by a rather famous Ballet company in London for the men to watch and they were beginning to understand the magnitude of the production they had agreed to perform. Only comforted by the reminder that Jennie and some of her friends were going to rewrite the script to meet their needs and abilities, still they knew they needed to increase their abilities to be able to truly do what the Chief had asked of them.

-0-

Roy was the second of the light duty assigned to return to full duty, Mike was the next, Chet and Cap surprised everyone, including the doctors, by retuning together. John however was a different story.

Where Hank had been diagnosed with a torn muscle that turned out to just be severely strained, John had been diagnosed with strained abdominal muscles and when he was putting the final push on to get back to full duty, it was discovered that he actually had a torn abdominal muscle which translates into a hernia. He required a simple outpatient surgery to knit the torn muscle back together and that kept him in a chair at a dispatch station for a full week and a half after the rest of the team were back to full duty.

It was during one of those shifts that Mrs. Merthner decided to stop by the fire station after dinner to talk over the production. She had met with Jennie Martin and knew of the dilemma over assigning each team member to a character and was hoping to make progress in that matter during her visit.

"Now I know that some of you have chosen your parts already, but I would like you to consider the following suggestions." Jennie had begun with the four members currently at the station. Roy and his partner for the shift, Craig Brice, had not yet returned from the hospital after taking the victims of the last fire they responded to in for treatment of the burns he got and the broken leg from falling down the stairs while trying to carry out his golf clubs and three hunting rifles.

"Usually the leading position is cast with the best dancer," Mrs. Merthner continued, "I hope that none of you are offended but you yourselves have said in the past that you weren't as good as your Captain here. Why Mr. Stanley either one of these men with the mustaches would make a marvelous Captain Hook to back you up in the position of Peter Pan."

Hank knew exactly what to do to bring this topic of discussion to a close and see to it that it was never brought up again. He simply rose to his feet and then pulled both Marco and Chet to their feet on either side of him. He knew they'd never want a Peter that was that much taller than Captain Hook. After all Peter was supposed to be the boy who never grew up. That brought to mind the one crew member who still hadn't returned to full duty. But Hank kept that thought to himself for the time being.

"Oh, Oh dear, Oh dear, dear," Mrs. Merthner mumbled as she shook her head, Mike did a wonderful job of muffling his laughter at her side. "I see where there is a problem with that suggestion, Mr. Stanley would you by any chance be able to dance on your knees." She made one last attempt to salvage the suggestion.

"I'm afraid not," Hank responded with a smile knowing he had certainly gotten out of wearing green tights and swinging from the rafters, "At least not with any grace and precision, not to mention I think it would be rather painful."

"Of course not, what was I thinking; well it was worth a thought." Mrs. Merthner muttered as she turned to see the squad backing into place.

Roy and Brice walked into the common room together and Mrs. Merthner took one look at Brice and called out, "John, why he's a perfect John!"

"No ma'am, John Gage is still on light duty, I'm Craig Brice, I'm just filling in for this shift until John is able to return to full duty," Brice extended his hand to shack with the women before him. Since the men of 'A' shift were still a little bashful about their dancing and there was so much to do before they were ready to really dive into the production, no one had said a thing about it in the presence of this temporary team member. But that didn't keep them from snickering at the dialog going on between Brice and the Dance teacher.

The Klaxons choose a perfect time to interrupt a conversation as the crew was called out to a traffic accident with injuries. But not before Captain Stanley began to realize that they really needed to enlarge their cast numbers a little.

Mike ushered Mrs. Merthner out the side door while Hank acknowledged the call. As Hank ran past the squad to get into his position on the Engine he took a good look at the cab of the squad and had to agree that Brice would make an excellent John, but was he willing to let him play the brother to his daughter who would be playing the part of Wendy?

-0-

The auto accident they responded to turned out to be a testament to seat belts. Three cars melded together in a crumpled form that resembled modern art. One held a young couple going out on a date, another, held a family of four, the third two businessmen who had been talking business more than watching the traffic. It took the jaws of life to get two of the cars apart so that they could get the occupants out without doing them harm but the worst injuries were one broken arm, one broken ankle and two lacerations that might require stitching. The paramedics each rode in a full ambulance while Chet followed along in the squad.

By the time the squad had returned to the station Hank had taken all the time he needed to think things over. "Brice, could I please speak with you in the office."

Once Brice was filled in on what was being talked about earlier he was excited to be included in the activity. Cap was totally stunned to find out the man had danced ballet as a child. Seems his parents thought he was a bit clumsy and thought the dance would help him determine his left foot from his right.

-0-

The debate over who should play the part of Peter in the production raged on for weeks after John Gage returned to full duty.

The possible solutions included letting Kristen Stanley play the part of Peter pan since the most famous of actors playing that part over the years were women. But that left the task of finding another Wendy.

There was a thought of trying to find a real dancer, someone with a name in the profession who might be willing to take part in the production and pull in a greater take at the ticket booth. Jennie, Mrs. Merthner and several of the leaders of the two charities they were representing, were excited about that prospect. However after two months and exhausting all of their connections they were not able to find such a person who was willing to work with such armatures.

They were about to push forward seeking outside their other connections when Chief Houts put an end to the searching, He wanted this production to bring attention to the firemen and what they'd learned.

Mrs. Merthner took advantage of the last few weeks of school to invite her students to try out for background dancing parts. Then president of the widows and orphans' had connections with an orchestra with several firemen in their ranks. They were persuaded to provide all the music for the production. The Chairman of the firemen's fund just happened to be a member of a choir who volunteered to provide the singing so the men of station 51 and whomever they were able to requite could focus on wowing those in attendance with their dancing.

Three professional groups, two theater groups, and one a ballet troop in the area were willing to donate backdrops and stage props and costumes for the occasion. None of them were doing Peter Pan this season but they kept the needed stage implements in storage for the next time they did.

Seven high schools offered their stage and auditoriums and Mrs. Merthner optimistically committed the largest of the facilities.

Thanks to the committees that were supporting them the production was moving forward, faster than the seven firemen were ready for things to move. Now they'd reached the point where all else stopped until the key actors were set in place.

Emily agreed to step into the part of the mother, Hank would play the father as well as Captain Hook, and Chris DeSoto was taunted by his sister until he agreed to play the part of Wendy's baby brother, Michael. Roy fearing where he might end up if he didn't agree to a part, so he chose the Pirate Captain's main flunky a character named Smee. The only thing left to do from there was to vote, so they voted by secret ballot to see who would play the part of Peter Pan.

Chief McConnike, Dr. Bracket and Nurse McCall even showed up at the station to count the votes.

There was no need for an impartial jury however, the vote had been unanimous.

The part of Peter Pan was going to be played by-

Author's note: I know this is dirty pool but it just seemed like the perfect way to end this chapter. I've received a few hints in the reviews so far as to who many of you think should play Peter and the answer is actually in the other two stories in this series but feel free to tell me who you think should get the part. I may even take it under advisement.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"- The ultimate boy who never grew up," Dr. Brackett held their suspense with a grin, "John Gage!"

In truth John was the only one left that hadn't already refused to play the part for one reason or another but the look on his face when his name was read was priceless. The vote wasn't actually unanimous there was one vote for Chet Kelly, written in the unmistakable handwriting of John Gage.

John sat silently for a moment with a stunned look on his face. His crewmate's looks were a mixture of relief that it wasn't them, sympathy for their friend, and giggling excitement. The major hurdle had finally been overcome, the production was now full speed ahead.

"So, um, where do I go to learn how to swing from the rafters and who's going to be at the controls of the wires from above the stage?" John finally found his voice showing a resolve to see the project through but there was no gloating over getting the part.

To John's question Dr. Brackett had an comment to make, "I know this is something you guys need to work out but it would not be wise for John to be suspended from any kind of a harness around his incisions site for at least another two weeks."

At the end of the two weeks the decision was made to recruit some of their fellow firefighters to man the ropes from above the stage, the professional wire system was too costly and would require them to hire specialized help to operate it. Since it was John who was putting his life in their hands he was allowed to choose which men, and he was very serious about choosing a group of men that respected what he was doing and weren't likely to pull a prank on him with the ropes.

When they all started putting the program together, starting at the beginning and moving to the end, Mrs. Merthner was a sergeant barking out orders. Most of the men felt like they weren't doing anything right and started to dread going to practices. But as luck would have it LA county fire departments were called in to help LA city departments in fighting a structure fire burning in a rundown ten story apartment building. During that fire several firemen were injured including one Mark Johnson who descended two floors without the aid of either elevator, stairs or Ladder. His injuries were surprisingly minor but it took his fellow firemen nearly an hour to dig him out of the rubble that blocked their path and lay on top of him. He was definitely going to be on light duty for at least a few weeks.

Chief Houts marched into the office of LA city's headquarters armed with a copy of Captain Henry Stanley's report and requested that firefighter Mark Johnson be assigned to him during his light duty time. As it turns out Mark Johnson spent his off time hours directing a little community theater, one of his passions.

Mark stepped into the high school auditorium and sat in the back for all of ten minutes watching the rehearsal and he knew exactly what needed to be done. Mrs. Merthner was doing a great job of pushing for perfection in timing and position but the men still looked so stiff on stage. Mark stepped in and showed them how to have fun with their parts. He started by instructing Hank to pull Roy under his arm and rub his knuckles across the top of his head, from time to time and for all the rest of them to step out of step every few seconds and poke as someone in a teasing manner. By the end of the first rehearsal he attended Mrs. Merthner realized he was right in more ways than one and welcomed his insights. It also helped that Mark knew he was only going to be around for a few weeks so he was happy to let her keep the lead as a director he just worked on trying to liven up the production a little.

It was under Mark's advice that Mike went home with Roy that night and just sat on his deck watching his children play with the family dog. Henry at the station wasn't a lot of inspiration but Mike did notice how he'd climb in the lap of anyone sitting on the couch and roll over for them to rub his tummy. Hank really started to notice a change in the way Mike played next to him in his role as the father and actually regretted that it was such a short part of the play.

Johnny was advised to do his first flying moves by practicing on a trampoline and it was strongly advised that every lead had an understudy. "In your profession you never know, you really need a second person who can step into the part at a moment's notice."

Mark clearly understood the limits to their cast options and advised that all of the firemen that this production was to focus on be able to play two parts. Mike reluctantly agreed to fill in for Hank and Chet was persuaded, by twisting his arm behind his back to be Johnny's understudy.

What no one realized at the time was that there were four men that secretly determined within themselves to do everything in their power to see to it that neither Cap nor Johnny got hurt before the play was over.

Mark was able to help select understudies for the rest of the cast from members within and everyone was once again busy learning a second set of lines. Hank and Johnny were quick to see that they were getting off easy in that regard. If they were going to be on stage they were only going to be playing their part.

While Mark was with them he also joined them in their workouts to facilitate his recovery and he praised each of the men for the work they were doing making several comments on Captain Stanley's report.

Chet showed up to workout with John on the trampoline and actually had fun, but he was still determined to do everything in his power to see to it that there was no reason what so ever for him to need to step into that crazy costume the women who were helping out, were making for him.

-0-

The first shift they worked after Mark joined the production team the station was called out for a snake bite victim. When they arrived they found three snake bite victims and a young boy about 12 running around tormenting a dozen or so girls that were attending his sister's birthday party. Wrapped around his arm was the snake that'd done the biting. It was non poisonous but there were some local reactions to the bites that required the three girls to be taken to the hospital for treatment. There were also a few panic attacks that required some mild sedatives and also a trip to the hospital. When the men were getting back on the fire engine after control had been returned, Mike paused and looked back at the boy and his parents and the police officers who were talking to him.

"Is everything all right there Mike?" Hank asked when his engineer got in the truck uncharacteristically slow. It was also very clear that he was deep in thought.

"Yeah Cap," Mike answered turning to look at his superior but still in real thought, "I was just thinking, that kid back there and what he was doing with the snake and all, that's what I should be adding to my part as the crocodile. Don't you agree?"

Cap couldn't answer his engineer for a full minute, he was laughing too hard.

-0-

Because Brice worked while the men of 51's A shift were off he missed a few rehearsals, it was unavoidable and no one thought bad of him for it. They were impressed that he made an effort to arrive at the station to work out with the main group while they were on shift. Brice was just enough out of his comfort zone and well aware that he was in no way the leader of this group to be livable. Like the others he was a little bashful about dancing and didn't want anyone who didn't dance to know that he did. This all translated into the perfect scenario to make Brice just one of the boys and they were all able to forget Brice was anything other than the perfect John.

They always dry moped the bay floor before they would work out because Mike was practicing to be able to drag himself around the floor as a crocodile and if they were to get called out in the middle of their work outs, which they did frequently, they didn't want him to arrive on the scene with the front of his uniform covered with dust. Whenever Brice arrived at the station for their workout if the crew was gone he started preparing the bay for their return. Everyone was really enjoying having him as part of their cast. However he was still hard to work with in the squad.

It was on the third of these station house rehearsals that Brice managed to roll his ankle during the dance routine.

Everyone could tell instantly by the way he held his foot and grimaced that he was hurting. While John and Roy were carefully slipping off his dance slippers and pulling up the bottom of his tights there was a very evident bruise on the ankle and swelling had already become noticeable. Brice admitted to getting caught by a wall collapse on his shift the night before and this injury was really a second injury.

"I'm sure it's just a sprain," Craig started to self diagnose as his footwear was removed and his ankle was being gently handled by the two paramedics, "it probably just needs an ace wrap and some ice for a while."

Craig then looked up in to the faces of those working on him and just as Roy opened his mouth to speak Craig said the words for him. "Maybe we should have it looked at, the doctor just might want an X-ray or something."

With friendly smiles on their faces John and Roy applied a simple cardboard splint to Brice's ankle, as he Brice like told them how to do it. Then Cap called it in while John and Roy changed into their fire boots, and Chet, Marco and Mike helped Craig slip his sweats on over his tights and the splint, making sure the sweats were bunched up above the splint. Craig was then helped into the cab of the squad where he was driven to Rampart. Before the bay doors closed behind them the phone was ringing and on the other end, Chief McConnike wanting to know if it was one of the crew that was injured in the still alarm.

Hank smiled silently as he assured the Battalion Chief that it was a visitor to the station and nothing more. He had no intention to let him know who the injured party was.

-0-

When they arrived at the hospital Roy ran for a wheelchair while John helped Brice slide toward the door and then they both helped him get in the chair without putting any weight on his injured leg. Once inside Laura Stoker dispatched him straight to X-ray and when he returned with his x-rays in his hands he was placed in a room with three others who had been sent to x-ray. John and Roy called themselves available but remained to keep Brice company and in a surprisingly short amount of time Dr. Morton rushed into the room picking up envelops of x-rays as he went.

The little girl named Allison was sent straight to the cast room, as was a ten year old boy named Bradley, the workman who answered to Bill was pulled into the hall where he was told there was no fracture and he was give his release to return to work.

Dr. Morton then returned to the room and threw the last set of x-rays on the light box giving them an extra careful looking over. After a few minutes he sat down on the doctors wheeled stool in the room and propelled it with his feet until he was within easy reach or Brice's ankle. The splint had been removed in x-ray and it was now resting on a pillow in the leg rest of the wheelchair Brice was sitting in. It didn't take Dr. Morton long to see that the ankle was definitely swollen and brightly colored.

"How long ago did this happen?" the Doctor known best for his poor bedside manner asked as he palpated the foot and ankle watching his patient for any signs of pain.

Before the men were able to explain the two incidents that had brought them here Dr. Morton slipped his finger under the hem of Brice's tights that were bunched on his calf. He pulled them up to confirm by their stretch that they were what he thought they were and then looked at all three of the men in the room one at a time.

"He's one of you isn't he?"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Dr. Morton stood in the hall outside treatment room 5. He had looked over the x-rays and the ankle of one Craig Brice and instructed the nurse to ice pack the ankle then bring him the file from the night before.

Having just read the treatment report he was angry, but regardless of his anger he needed to consult with another doctor.

Mike noticed Dr. Early stepping out of a treatment room down the hall and standing there as his patient walked toward his family members who were waiting for him. Dr. Early was clearly available right now and would give an excellent consultation, but Mike chose at that moment not to go to him.

Dr. Early was Rampart's head comedian on the make fun of the dancing firefighters wagon and Mike was beginning to feel a little protective of these men. They were all obviously a little bashful about others knowing but they also knew the benefits. In the last year he had seen them too.

No, Mike Morton would not subject even the annoying Craig Brice to the teasing ridicule he knew Dr. Early would dish out; Mike went in search of Dr. Brackett.

When he found Dr. Brackett he was up to his eyeballs in blood working with a gang fight patient. Mike knew his patient could wait so he jumped in to help Kell if he could. Twenty minutes later the patient was headed for the morgue and Kell Brackett was looking for a clean lab coat. When Kell stepped out of the laundry closet he found Dr. Mike Morton waiting for him. He was wearing clean scrubs and holding a medical Chart in his hand.

"What is it Mike?" Kell asked knowing whatever it was had to do with the file in his hands.

"I'm about to change the diagnosis on a patient's chart and according to hospital rules and considering who the original doctor was I'm going to need a second opinion," Mike explained.

Kell took the file that was being extended to him and opened it up to read the summery. With a tested appearance to his face he flipped through the file to read the original report.

"We sent an injured firefighter back into the field without even as much as an x-ray!"

Mike simply nod his head while biting his tongue.

"Which doctor did that?" Kell flipped a few pages and turned his head and then the papers a few times. "I'm afraid I don't recognize this signature."

"Dr. Donaldson," Mike translated and then after a deep breath he added, "Senior."

Kell sighed in complete but angry understanding. The Senior Dr. Donaldson would, from time to time, float through the ER to visit with his son, usually trying to get him out of the hospital for some gathering or other. When the ER was busy he would pitch in to help his son get his work done so that he could leave with him. And the times that he did there were nearly always a few patients that were sent on their way that probably needed more treatment and/or testing than they received. It was never anything serious so he continued to get away with it, but to send a firefighter back in to the field with such an injury was uncalled for. Even if the ankle hadn't been broken he never would have been able to run to save his live if the situation depended on it.

"Well Mike I completely agree with you in this matter, Why don't you get Joe to do the second evaluation while I go up and have a little talk with the administrator about this little issue."

"The thing of it is," Mike stalled his supervisor's retreat, "He reinjured his ankle tonight," Mike paused, "Dancing with Station 51."

"You mean he's part of 51's project?"

"Apparently so," Mike answered, "something about being the perfect John?" Mike tried to explain something he didn't totally understand himself.

"Well good for him," Dr. Brackett mumbled under his breath before motioning for Dr. Morton to lead the way to his patient.

-0-

It was some hours later, long after Dr. Brackett should have been off duty, the time it took to get an orthopedic consultation for his new patient had ment he wouldn't catch the administrator before he left for the day. Now he walked toward the observation room with bad news for the occupant there.

Craig Brice had been dozing due to the effect of the pain medication he'd been given, but as soon as Dr. Brackett opened the door his eyes were open and he was looking at his guest.

"I'll make it easy for you," Brice recognized well the bad news look on Dr. Brackett's face. "I knew it was broken the moment Dr. Morton needed a consultation. Since it was done during off duty time I'll be out of work without pay, for how long is it going to be doc?"

"Well that's not quite the way we see it, for the record, it's going on the record as being broken on duty." Dr. Brackett tried to reassure one of his least favorite paramedics. "Both Dr. Morton and I feel that the fractures as well as the slight tear in your lateral tendon took place when that wall fell over on you. I'm surprised you didn't insist on x-rays before you were told to return to work."

Craig sighed long and loud, "I thought it should have been x-rayed but who am I to challenge a doctor."

Kell added his sigh to the conversation; sometimes this particular paramedic was a little too much by the rule book. And worse yet he didn't have a close friend for a partner who was willing to cross the line to see to it that he was taken care of. Sure any of the men would go in to a fire to rescue him but just because that was what they do, not because he was their buddy that they didn't want anything to happen to.

"The fractures are really minor," Dr. Brackett proceeded to update his patient on his condition. "They should heal completely in about four weeks with rest and immobilization, but I'm afraid that torn tendon could take up to eight even ten weeks before we get you back to full duty." Then Kell broached what he knew was a hidden subject. "When is that big production scheduled for?"

Brice just gave the doctor who was now sitting on the side of his bed a surprised look.

"Dr. Morton told me, and don't worry, no one is going to find out from either of us." Kell rested the edge of the patient's file against his thighs and his hands on the top of it then turned back to Brice, "I'm one of the early converts to this method of rehabbing soft tissue injuries."

"Well I don't know about any of that stuff, but with me out for eight to ten weeks I guess they'll have to find a replacement for me," Craig threw his fist into the mattress across the bed from Dr. Brackett, "The show goes on in six weeks."

"I'm sorry," Kell hung his head, then he lifted it again. "May I ask a question?"

Craig Brice just glumly shrugged his shoulders in answer, it was clear he was upset about being dropped from the production.

"If you don't know about using Ballet as a treatment for soft tissue injuries then how did you get recruited into the production? I mean I know the group assigned with this project hasn't been advertising any auditions."

"I was covering for Gage before he came back from his hernia surgery; their director came to the station and thought I looked perfect for one of the parts that's all." Craig answered with a defeated tone to his voice.

"So you've been on board since right near the beginning then?" Bracket thought out loud as he gave a puzzled look at the young man in the bed.

"Yeah, it's the first time since I've joined the department that I've actually felt like someone wanted me around." Craig responded in an even more despondent voice.

"Come on Brice you know that's not true, you're an excellent Paramedic," Dr. Brackett said what he thought he should.

"Don't you think I know what they call me behind my back, what they all say about me when they don't think I can hear?" Craig countered the doctor still sitting on the side of his bed, "I'm the walking rule book, the perfect paramedic, the last person you ever want to be partnered with and if you have a choice the last person you want to work on you if you're hurt." Craig made a rainbow with his fingers as he talked.

Dr. Brackett sighed, Craig Brice could see through all platitudes and lies so why try. He decided to give it to him straight. "Well I must admit your bedside manner leaves room for improvement, but then so did mine when I first started in Emergency and I have to admit it's an area I could still use a little work, but if you tell another soul I'll deny it and claim you were on pain meds and just hallucinating when you thought you heard it."

Brice almost smiled at the tired doctor sitting on his bed.

"So I guess there is more benefits to this exorcize program than we originally noticed." Dr. Bracket placed a companionate hand on his patients shoulder.

"We're going to be keeping you till morning; we need to get the swelling down in that ankle before we immobilize it. Then we're going to put you in a special boot affair. It's rather new on the market but it will keep your ankle immobilized and still allow you to adjust the tightness as the swelling increases and decreases. This is going to be expected for the next two to three weeks and once your past that point there's no reason in putting a cast on since the boot will have been paid for." Dr. Brackett explained the process to unfold.

"I was told to tell you that someone from 51's will be by to take you home as soon as their shift ends in the morning." Dr. Brackett gave Craig another squeeze to his shoulder and then left the room giving one more order, "Get some sleep."

A nurse came in a few minutes later with something to make Craig more comfortable and he soon succumbed to the sedative effects of the pain medication. While he slept he dreamed of dancing and of one day matching the height and distance of Captain Stanley's leaps and jumps. He was hoping the men at station 51 would let him rehab his ankle by working out with them.

-0-

Craig's breakfast was still sitting on the bed table set up across his bed when his next non hospital staff visitor entered the room. Surprised to see Captain Stanley and barely recognizing him in street clothes Craig's first thought was that no one else would agree to give him a ride home so since the captain had to officially tell him that he could no longer be part of the production he took pity on him and volunteered to give him a ride home too.

"Brice, I've got a proposition for you," Captain Stanley began to speak as he moved over and took a good look at what the man had been served for breakfast, 'no wonder most of it is still there.' The captain thought.

"You already know you part pretty well, and the doctor said you should be able to stand on both feet in time for the show to go on. We've been able to acquire an older desk chair, one that turns around and is on wheels. We're all pretty sure that you could just sit in that chair and let us move you around as we practice our parts and help the high school kids who are going to be dancing with us get everything together. And then while we're doing that you could be focusing on what moves you need to be sure to transfer over to your other foot so that by the time the Dr. tells you that you can put weight on it you will be able to get your act together by the time the curtain goes up."

Hank let the silence linger as Craig just looked at him in total disbelief.

"I'm sorry sir," Craig began to respond, "I must still be feeling the effects of the pain meds, I thought you just said you've figured out a way for me to stay with the production?"

"You heard me right," Hank answered back with a straight face.

"But I'm going to be wearing this orthopedic boot for Eight to ten weeks and the curtains go up in six?" Craig still didn't believe what he was hearing.

"But according to the doctors you'll be walking on that boot in four weeks." Hank pointed out. "This whole program is to get our brothers in the department to be willing to accept this type of thing as an alternative to getting them back in shape after an injury and helping those who are willing to stick with it from getting injured in the first place. None of us have a problem with you doing your part with whatever misstep you have to throw in because to that boot thing."

Just then the other five men from station 51 came through the door, some carrying a change of clothes one pushing a wheelchair.

"Well Cap is he going to stick it out?" John Gage asked with that patent crocked grin of his.

"Yeah, is he going to see this through to the end or is he too scared we'll twirl him around in that chair until he's so dizzy he'll puke all over the place and embarrass himself to death?" Chet Kelly threw in.

"You mean you guys really want me to continue? I'm not going to be out of this boot in time for the production." Craig was still stunned.

"So, for the first time in your life you're not going to be perfect at something," Roy added with a bit of a gloat to his voice.

"After all you're the perfect John," Gage tossed out with a wave of his hand in the air.

"What's this about being a perfect John?" the nurse questioned as he hurried in the room with Craig Brice's take home meds and his discharge instruction.

"Oh, um, well, um, you see," Johnny was at a loss for real words.

"You see Craig here has been working with the vice squad when he's off shift with the fire department," Chet began to weave a tale that no one could believe. "He's helping them get all the prostitutes off the streets."

"Oh really," the nurse looked at each of them before reading the care at home instructions to Craig and handing him everything in her hands. As she walked out of the room she gave everyone in it one more look before letting out a sigh, "Oh, really." she repeated, "well good luck to you Mr. Brice."

When the door closed behind her the whole room burst out in uncontrolled laughter.

"Guys," Craig got their attention, "I have a confession to make."

The room quieted and everyone turned to him wondering what on earth the perfect paramedic had to confess.

"The story you just told that nurse is a whole lot better to live with than telling her I've been dancing around with other men."

"Oh, I thought he was going to confess to leaving the compartments unlocked once." Johnny responded.

"Don't worry Brice, if we told them you were dancing around with other men we'd have to admit we're the other men you've been dancing with and I'm not sure we're ready for that." Mike informed the man who was still wearing one of those one size never fits anyone hospital gowns that are never fully closed in the back.

"Well now we can't let it get out that we share anything with the Great Craig Brice," Chet started.

"Yeah, we don't want anyone to get the idea that we want to be partnered with you in the squad or anything like that," Roy followed through.

"Yeah," Johnny added, "I still want someone else to take care of me if I'm hurt, unless of course no one else is available then maybe, if it's life threatening that is."

"I'll keep that in mind," Craig Brice said with the biggest grin anyone had ever seen on his face. To everyone's surprise the man did know how to take a joke.

"So what's it going to be, are you in or are you gettin' out," John pushed for a formal answer.

"Are you kidding this is the most fun I've ever had in my life. I'd love to stick it through to the end." Craig answered formally.

"That's great," Roy responded as he tossed Brice his clothes.

Once Craig was in some presentable clothing the men of station 51 lifted him into the wheel chair and headed out.

"Oh Guys," Cap gathered their attention, "This Man was not served an edible breakfast. I think it would be cruel and unusual punishment to take him home without a decent meal."

"Breakfast it is." Roy called out taking control of the wheelchair.

"Molly's diner good for everyone?" John asked as he stepped in line.

"Molly's diner it is." everyone agreed and they were off.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

With six weeks left before the curtain goes up, it was time to start pulling the entire cast together. Up till this point the groups had been rehearsing separately. Of course Hank's and Roy's daughters joined with the men regularly but the youth dancers from Mrs. Merthner's dance class pretty much worked out on their own as did the orchestra and the choir. Now it was time to start pulling it together.

Rehearsing with Brice in a chair wasn't as easy as they thought it would be but they did manage. Chris DeSoto ended up pushing him around most of the time. It really only took a few days to get the two dance groups in step with each other then it was time to start working on the speaking parts. This is where Craig Brice really shined by always correcting the grammar of the rest of the cast members. Since they knew it was all play acting and nothing negative would come from it they all made sure they needed a lot of corrections even if they had to adlib their parts. Craig knew they were making fun of him and he was quite enjoying it.

It took two days before Mr. Darling, (played by Hank Stanley) was able to stop laughing enough to say his lines when dealing with the Dog Nana, (Played by Mike Stoker). It took five days before Captain Hook, (Played by Hank Stanley) could make it through his part without laughing when he told Wendy, (Played by Hank's Daughter Kristen) that he was going to make all the lost boys walk the plank so she could be his Mommy.

It was decided that when Peter Pan, (Played by John Gage) was coaxing the audience to applauded to help him revive young Tinker bell, (played by Jennifer DeSoto) from certain death so that she could save the day, that he should be carrying her in his arms. It was the five year old Jennifer that insisted her Uncle Johnny be trying to save her using mouth to mouth while he was coaxing for the audiences response. It took two weeks to get her to stop throwing her arms around his neck every time he came close in an act of blowing in her mouth. They never did get her to stop puckering up to give him a kiss every time he brought his head close to hers. Still, all in all, things were coming together and everyone was still having fun.

It happened often that when they were playing around while they were getting into character mindset that it was decided to include some of their antics in the production. They were truly making this play their own.

During that week they also had a dress rehearsal, everyone tried on their costumes and they were safety pined to size and then they went through the play to make sure the costumes accommodated the movements they would be making. There were a few tears that had to be repaired in the process but they were also able to get some impressive pictures to use for the advertisement posters.

-0-

With five weeks to go till curtain time posters started going up everywhere, Schools, stores, Libraries, all fire stations, the police department and every city and government building, just to name a few. They all showed one of five pictures that were taken during the rehearsal with the days and times, phone number to call for tickets the price of said tickets, and arched across the top of each poster, **Peter Pan, Firemen in Tights**.

John and Roy were actually at Rampart when they put one up in the emergency department and watched Dr. Early write the phone number to order tickets on his hand before hurrying to the nearest phone, he was actually able to finish dialing before all four corners of the poster were securely taped. Dr. Bracket was close behind he used a prescription pad in his pocket to write the number on and stopped just long enough to ask Dixie if she would like to go with him. Mike Morton didn't see the poster for a full ten minutes; he'd been with a patient when it was put up. Then he needed to check his schedule first to make sure which of the three nights he was off and could go. Several of the medical staff would be reporting that they purchased tickets in the weeks to come.

Announcements were sent out to all fire captains to be read at the beginning of each shift. Hank didn't bother to read his but he did see to it that the poster was placed in the common room.

That was the week they learned the high school student who was going to play the part of Tiger Lilly had fallen off a six foot high brick wall she was walking across the top of and broke her leg. There was no way she could continue on with a full leg cast. With the limited time it was decided that Kristen Stanley would dance both that part and that of Wendy but there were problems with that since they occasionally were both on stage at the same time. In a 'the show must go on' attitude it was decided that they'd just have to work on it. Mrs. Merthner was sure she would have everything worked out before the actual performances.

-0-

The second shift after the posters went up the committee members responsible for advertising and sales showed up at the station.

"I don't want to know how many tickets have sold." Hank held his hands up and spoke quite adamantly when the advertising committee plus the two Charity chairpersons were lead into the common room where he had his paperwork spread all over the tables there in an effort to get it all straightened out. "It will either depress us or make us nervous so I don't ever want that information presented to this team. You can tell us after wards if you really want but not until then." It was very clear there was no room for discussion.

There was silence for a moment then one of the members stepped forward to speak. Hank didn't really know what position he held but it didn't matter.

"We've been thinking and we were hoping that you men might be willing to add a matinee performance for the children from the fire and police children's program and from the children's hospital."

Hank bobbed his head back and forth in thought then took in a deep breath and slowly blew it out. Hank then sent Marco to gather the troops and instructed John to get Craig Brice on the phone and together they voted unanimously to add the extra performance, providing the rest of the cast agreed.

The committee members in the room sighed in relieve, they already had the approval of the rest of the cast, the choir and the orchestra all that was left was the willingness of the 'Red Hot Seven' the name that the seven firefighters had been dubbed by someone, Rumor was that someone was Chief Houts, but weather it was or wasn't that nick name was catching on fast and sticking better than glue, much to the dismay of the seven firefighters in question.

-0-

With four weeks to go before curtain time, the choir and orchestra were at every rehearsal. When the firemen were on shift everyone was given the day off. Kristen however was often working with both Mrs. Merthner and Jennie Martin to try and figure out how to play both parts and polishing her routines.

-0-

With three weeks to go the nerves started creeping in. Despite Captain Stanley's orders about not being told about ticket sales each of the men were being approached by others who had bought tickets telling them they were looking forward to the performance and there were a lot of people approaching them, several of them saying the performance was sure to be a good laugh. Even some of the victims they were rescuing were talking to them and they were also getting informed that other firemen were being approached and that not all of them were flattered to be mistaken for one of the dancing firemen. One lady who they were working to extricate from a wrecked auto was worried she wouldn't be out of the hospital in time to use her tickets. John and Roy assured her there was plenty of time for that.

When those nerves started affecting their work Hank knew he had a problem.

-0-

It was three men stuck on a malfunctioning scaffolding on the side of a fourteen story building. They were on the one side of the building that had no windows so there was no hope of pulling them through one and the ladder truck nor the snorkel truck were going to be able to reach them. The only way to rescue those men was to send someone down on a rope to evaluate the injuries that were being reported and then pulled them back up one at a time.

John Gage was a natural with heights and was nearly always the one to go if only one person was needed to go down on a rope. But this time Hank watched both of his paramedics start to belt up.

"I think we had better only send one of you," Hank spoke up trying to guess what was going on where there was no communications taking place. "We have no idea how much more weight that scaffolding will hold."

"You're right cap," John responded before looking at Roy, "I'll go, I'm the lightest."

"NO, I'm going," Roy spoke doing his best not to leave any room for argument.

"But Roy, It doesn't make sense for you to go, I'm better at this than you are and I weigh less, Roy you always let me be the one to go in this kind of situation?" John questioned in complete confusion.

"Let Roy Go," Chet added his say as he moved to help Roy hook a life line to his belt for the other men on the scaffolding.

"But Why?" John was really confused and worse starting to think he had done something so that the men he worked with didn't trust him.

"Because I don't want ta have ta wear your silly green tights," Chet put it on the line. John was so dumb struck he didn't fight but he did share mistrusting glances with his fellow firemen for the rest of the shift.

Since there were three trucks there for manpower purposes so was Chief McConnike to witness this display between his men. Hank knew something had to be done but wasn't sure just what.

-0-

The production advertising and ticket sales committee came by the station later that afternoon. Hank met them at the door and actually stepped outside to talk with them, and he left no room for them to get a word in edgewise.

"Look, I really do understand the importance of the work your doing and I really appreciate all that you've done and are still doing, but while me and my men are on duty we need to be able to keep our minds on our work and right now even thinking about this production or any part of it is becoming a distraction that could end up costing one of my men his life. I'm sorry to be so blunt but I do not want you to set foot in this station again. If there is something that you need to talk to us about you'll need to meet us during our rehearsals not here at the station."

-0-

During the next rehearsal Hank noticed the extra blisters on Kristen's feet from all the extra work she was doing to learn a second part. They still didn't have all of the problems worked out for the two parts to be played by the same person so Hank made one big suggestion and he made it in a way to let them know who was really in charge of this production. "Let's look into cutting the character of Tiger Lilly from the script."

It was a strange rehearsal and everyone had to agree that something needed to be done with the part of Tiger Lilly but to remove it from the script entirely wasn't really the answer either. It was one of their short turn around shifts for the men of station 51 and they had to be back to work the next day. Because of that and wanting to give his men the time to put the production out of their mind and be able to do their jobs, Hank called rehearsals early and demanded that all work on it wait until after the next shift. He could tell his daughter needed a break too.

-0-

When the men gathered for roll call the next morning Hank took an extra long time to look each man over. Finally convince he had five firemen standing in front of him and not five actors Hank moved on with announcements and station business. The morning was quiet with only one rather minor traffic accident for them to work, then just before lunch the station and four others were called to a warehouse explosion near the docks, When they arrived they found the warehouse fully involved with flames reaching high above the building. They were second in so Station 58's captain directed the different stations until the battalion chief arrived on sight.

Hank was surprised that all of his men were directed to work hose at the end of the building that was least involved even though he had heard a report over the radio that victims were still in the building.

Hank did as he was told but once the fire was out and clean up had begun Hank put Mike in charge for a minute and walked over to where 58's was doing their clean up to have a little talk with their captain.

"If you're here to thank me for saving your precious little ballet toes don't," Hall Harker the captain of Station 58's nearly spit at Hank as he approached, Hank had thought of this man as a friend and couldn't understand why he had done what he did or why he was talking to him in this manner.

"What are you talking about?" Hank demanded as calmly as he could while taking a hold of the sleeve of his turn out and pulling him to the back side of the engine where they could talk with the greatest amount of privacy. "Why did you order us to the far end when things were so hot up here when we arrived?"

"Because we've all been ordered to save your sorry little butts until after this prissy little production you're involved in is over." Hall talked with the same venom in his voice.

"Ordered to what?" Hank questioned in shear shock.

"Are you trying to tell me you don't know that all of the captains in this response area have been ordered to keep you guys in light action until after this, this stupid dance thing you're doing." It wasn't a question it was an accusation that Hank was lying through his teeth.

"Ordered? By who?" Hank slid to the running board on the passenger side of the engine being so stunned that his legs were feeling rubbery.

Hall Harker's stance softened and so did his words, "You really didn't know did you?"

Hank could only shake his head, "If they're that worried about us getting hurt why didn't they just pull us from duty? How, how could they do something like order you to protect us? That's not fair to you guys or us."

"All I know is that McConnike made the rounds this morning stating at Roll call and as quickly as he could get to each station." Hall spoke a little less accusingly than he had before but it was still clear he was very angry. "Look I'm sorry I said what I did earlier but I agree with you, if you can't do your job then you need to turn your truck and equipment over to someone who can."

"I agree," Hank responded still stunned but slightly relieved that things were not irreparable between he and his fellow captain. "I'll give Chief Houts a call as soon as I get back to the station. And I promise you this order will be remanded or the production will be canceled. Before the end of the day it will be canceled of this production will." Hank then carefully rose to his feet facing his fellow captain.

"Still Friends?" Hank asked as he extended his hand fearful it wouldn't be taken.

Hall let out a sigh and shook the offered hand, "Yeah, we're still friends, but I can't say the same for the rest of the captains around here, or their men for that matter."

"Tell them I'm sorry for me will you. And that I'll take care of this. I promise I'll take care of this."

"This must be really big if you're going all the way up to Chief Houts. You sure you don't want to try one of the deputy chief's first?"

"This whole production thing is Chief Hout's baby; I best go straight to him." Hank commented then walked back to his men. Not only did he need to encourage them to hurry with clean up so that he could get back to a phone and call headquarters he needed to let them know they were very much unloved by their fellow firefighters right now and why.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The next rehearsal was awkward and none of the 'red hot seven' were into the production. Hank understood very well their mood and knew that something needed to be done. After taking the time to look at the confused faces of their supporting cast, the choir and the Orchestra. Hank knew canceling the production wasn't the right answer.

"Guys can we take a fifteen minute break? Me and my men need a few minutes." Hank called out and the rest of the cast gathered around the snack bar that the committees had so generously provided for all of the cast members with a special emphasis on young Cindy's diabetic needs.

Hank then gathered his men and Brice, in a quiet corner of the auditorium and had them sit he then found the back of a chair in front of them and leaned against it facing his men.

"Men," Hank began to talk with his head hung low, "I know how you feel, I feel the same way, whoever asked our fellow firefighters to protect us was out of line, they have reason to be angry and we're the only ones they know to be angry with. We've all talked about canceling this, this, whatever pronoun you want to call it in order to get back to the work we've chosen and the jobs we love. But I've just been watching a hundred and six people, counting the rest of the cast, choir and the orchestra, not to mention all the behind the scenes people who have been working on advertising, costumes and keep us feed so that we can keep dancing, who have worked on this thing as hard or harder than we have and it's not fair to them for us to quit now, not with only two weeks to go before the curtain goes up. We need to give this project the best we have and see it through. I'm sure the Chief will come through for us and help us work things out with the rest of the department.

"Are we in agreement?" Hank ended and watched as his men plus one looked behind him at all the nervous people milling around the stage.

"You know I'd been thinking that this was all about us doing what the Chief asked us to do," John was the first to speak up. "But Cap's right, it's grown to be a lot more than that now. We don't have a choice we have to see it through."

"The show must go on," Mike echoed.

"Yeah," Marco agreed.

"This is really going to be an amazing production," Roy added, a hint of pride leaking from his eyes, "There are people who are buying tickets expecting us to make fools of ourselves that are going to be amazed."

"That they are," Craig added.

"I say let's get this show on the road," Chet added with determination in his voice.

"Second Star to the right," Hank started.

"And on till morning," the rest of the crew joined in and called out in unison.

The seven men then returned to the stage as six of them lined up behind Captain Stanley. Hank picked up a mic and tapped it to make sure it was on before addressing everyone that was there.

"On behalf of me and my men I would like to apologize for the way we've acted so far today. Our only defense is that we had a rough last shift and we're having trouble getting it off our mind. One thing we have realized thought is that all of you have turned this production into something far grander than we ever dreamed of. We may be thought of as the leads in this production but none of us would be anything without all of you and we want to thank you for all that you have done and are doing." Hank then looked at the committee members who were working with them. "But I still have to ask you to keep all dealing with this production away from the fire station. It could be a matter of life and death if we were distracted from our work."

Hank let out a sigh then raised his head once again. "If it's alright with the rest of you we'd like to start again from the beginning and we promise you, that this time we'll get it right."

The seven firemen were greeted with smiles from nearly everyone and several women from the choir put on their motherly tendencies and stepped forward to give each of the men hugs. If they had any doubts that they'd made the right choice they were gone with the hugs.

They did begin again and Hank found a smile for his engineer as he rolled over on his back with feet and arms in the air at his feet.

The wire or rope mechanics needed to simulate flight were still in the process of being installed in this particular auditorium So the actors who were supposed to fly away simply jumped and then they moved on to the next scene. Johnny, Chet and Kristen had been practicing at another site and felt comfortable with the flying movements the mechanics to do that at the current location would be ready by the next week giving them only week to spare before the curtains went up for real.

Over the next two hours then made it from beginning to end with only needing to stop three or four times to work through a few problems. Most of them associated with the part of Tiger Lilly. They still could not decide whether to leave that part out all together or just cut it back.

When they might have made their final bow but chose not to grandstand for an empty auditorium they heard applause from the darkness in the back of the seating. It was only the applause of one person and as they looked to see who was applauding a shadow began to move from the darkness and then Chief Houts was seen moving forward continuing to clap until he reached the rim of the orchestra pit.

"Bravo, Bravo, Bravo," the Chief spoke with emphasis as he slowed his clapping and then stopped. "When I asked six men to step outside of their comfort zone and show what they could, do I had no idea things would become this grand, nor had I any idea how high and graceful these men could step. Well done. Well done and well done.

"Now if the majority of this cast wouldn't mind me taking these seven men aside for a few moments. I need to talk with them privately, but I will likely need to talk with the rest of you once we are finished so if you wouldn't mind hanging around. I'd really appreciate that."

With a nod of the Chief's head seven men found the corner stairs that led down from the stage and followed their high leader to a distant corner of the auditorium where they could talk and not be heard. With a wave of his hand the Chief gave the motion for them to all sit and then like Captain Stanley had done before he leaned on the back of a chair facing them.

"I've heard what you men were put through on your last shift and I assure you measures are being taken to resolve that situation. I also understand your wish not to know about the ticket sales and I admire you for your dedication to duty. You are truly firemen first and performers only because of my request. I personally will see to it that your fellow firemen understand that. However there is a matter I have to talk with you about even though I know you really don't want to hear it."

The chief paused and it looked as if he was waiting for someone to object to him saying anymore but when the men remained silent he continued.

"I'm sure you'll be surprised but all three of the performances you had scheduled have been sold out. The committee in charge of advertising and ticket sales has also sold the remaining seats from the invitation only matinee performance your doing for the children. And the phones are still ringing. It is believed that tickets can be sold to fill this auditorium for three or four more performances than are currently scheduled. What I need to know now is if you're willing to take on the extra performances."

"They're only coming to see us make fools of ourselves." Roy voiced his concern.

"When are we going to find time to be firemen?" Chet spoke up.

"Chief, in all due respect this is not the career of our choice." Hank added.

Chief Houts folded his arms across his chest and smiled. He then placed both hands on the seat he was leaning on and spoke up.

"If they are coming to watch you make fools of yourselves their going to be very disappointed. This is a wonderfully comical production but it is also the most professional presentation I have ever seen. As for finding time to be firemen; I am going to propose that all of the performances be in the same week, with a second matinee on Saturday. I am also proposing that this be a Temporary Duty Assignment and that you be paid for the time away from the station. Hank do you think you can keep your guys in the right mind set for two more shifts and then we'll put you all on TDA through the duration of this project you've taken above and beyond?"

Before he answered Hank turned to his men. "It's up to you guys, it always has been."

"You men are really binging in the funds for the two charities you've chosen to represent," The Chief tried to add a little persuasion. "However because of some of the issues that have presented themselves, time off work and interruption of the teamwork in the field to name just a few, I'm sure you can understand that I will not be making this an annual performance."

Slowly and subtly each man turned to their captain and gave an approving nod, then Captain Stanley turned and officially stood before his Chief. "We'll do it Sir. Of course we only speak for ourselves and not the rest of the cast. I also add that there are several firemen in both the choir and the Orchestra who will need to have their shifts covered as well."

"That is why I've asked them to stay while we had this little conversation. If you men don't mind I would like to make the offer to them and then I'd like to talk with you seven a little more about the 'safe duty only' situation."

"Thank you sir we'd love to have that conversation and we can wait till you've talked with the rest of the cast." Hank Stanley spoke for all of his men. "Chief Sir." Hank spoke again. "Might I ask how long you've been sitting in the shadows tonight?"

"Oh I got here just as you stood in front of your men and offered and apology for being in a funk after last shift." Chief Houts responded with a smile, "So for pretty much the whole night."

Of course the rest of the cast agreed to the extra performances, a greater compliment could never have been given.

The next morning when they arrived for rehearsal they noticed the posters on the doors of the school they had all had Sold Out banners taped across them covered by Held Over banners showing the new performance dates and times. The men began to feel butterflies dancing around in their stomachs.

"Two more sifts Cap?" Chet was the one to ask.

"Can you hang in there that long Chet?" was Cap's thoughtful response.

"I hope so. Somebody's got to keep Gage out of trouble or I'm going to end up in green tights swinging from the rafters. And I do not want to shave off my mustache."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

When the men arrived for their next shift they were apprehensive. They had been informed by headquarters that there was a meeting scheduled and that all of the stations in their response area were to meet at a local outdoor amphitheater.

When station 51 arrived, ten minutes after the rest of the groups, due to a traffic accident they witnessed enroute, no injuries they just needed to direct traffic around the damaged cars until the police arrived, they found the area's Engines, ladder trucks and squads parked in a way so that they could leave in a hurry if a call were to come in.

All of the men were seated on the brick and rock structure and someone from headquarters was passing out papers to all of the battalion chiefs and captains in the gathered group while Chief Houts awaited the set up of a portable amplifier and mic at his side.

"Oh Good, you're here," Chief Houts greeted and the mic squealed as the men came into view. "Will the men of station 51 please be seated down here in front?"

Hank led his men both to the seats the Chief was pointing to and in blushing for all to see.

"Can everyone hear me all right now?" Chief Houts asked and watched for nods from the farthest rows back.

"Good, now let's get down to business. Last shift there was a huge mistake made, a mistake that originated from Headquarters and got totally blown out of proportion before it got to you men.

You all by now know about the production the men of Station 51 here are participating in." the crowd nod their heads and their disgust was in their faces. "They are doing so at my request. Your Captains have been given a copy of a report showing the benefits of a new kind of exercise and injury rehab program and I wanted these men to give you a demonstration. It was decided, again by me, that one or more of the firefighting charities could benefit from this demonstration. As it turns out these men," he motioned to station 51, "Have taken the assignment I gave them and took it far beyond my wildest dreams, in part due to the wonderful assistance they've received from the charity committees they chose to represent.

It was the president of one of those committees that was starting to worry about her star performers getting injured before the big performances and approached someone in headquarters suggesting that they somehow be protected. The person that was talked to was hesitant but when he was told that this production was 'my baby', things started to happen. The best I've been able to find out so far is that the information about this request arrived in my office while I was meeting with the governor to discuss wild fire expectations, planning and prevention so someone else in the office, seeing that this was a time sensitive manner, one of the deputy Chief's made the decision that perhaps you men could be warned to watch out for these men a little. This person assures me that his only intention was to ask you to keep an extra eye on them until the performance was over, NEVER once were they to be given only the safest of assignments at a response or for you men to put your lives on the line to protect them, and NEVER once have these men made any such request on their own behalf. To the best of my understanding each level this message was sent down the line to you, what started out as a simple request grew larger until what you heard at the station level and from what the battalion chiefs have told me even each of you extended what was asked of you.

"Station 51 and all of her men are firefighters first and performers only on my request. They are on the job and have assured me that they are ready, willing, and every bit as able to be firefighters, with all the risks and responsibilities that come with the job, as they were before they took on this extra assignment."

"By the show of hands how many of you can work ALONGSIDE of these men and TRUST them to protect you just as you would protect them, NO SPECIAL TREATMENT."

Hank and his men sighed with relief as they looked around behind them to see the response. A lot of hands shot in the air quickly but there were a few that had to think for a moment before slowing adding their raised hands to their fellow firefighters.

"Good, I do hope those of you who were a bit hesitant can gain more confidence in these men before the end of the day. The whole point of this program is to show that there are things out there that you can learn that will make you just a little bit safer and able to do your jobs just a hair better. I'm afraid what happened last shift gave just the opposite impression and this meeting today is to attempt to undo the damage that was done."

"Now that we have an understanding of what is expected of every firefighter who reports for duty I would like to offer the following counsel and explanation.

"Anyone who has been watching the posters for this production has surely noticed that the first three shows have been completely sold out and that an additional four showings have been added. This will make it necessary for approximately 30 men from among you who are involved in this production; yes men there are more than just station 51 involved in this production, some of you are in the Choir and others in the orchestra and still others working backstage, and they will all need to miss a shift or two. Also because these men, especially the 7 who are staring in this production, are firefighters not professional performers they are getting a little overwhelmed with the number of tickets that are being sold and are admittedly experiencing some opening night jitters a little early in the game. They will be given an extra two shifts off for the final preparations. In the mean time, WITHOUT GIVING THEM SPECIAL TREATMENT, if any of you are to notice them doing anything reckless while on duty, like say, try to fly, they are going to be doing that on stage with the aid of wires by the way, Please stop them. Captains have the power to stand them down and my office should be contacted directly and immediately if that were to happen. Are there any questions?"

No one said anything and several in the gathering were shaking their heads to the negative but with mirthful smiles on their faces.

"Good then are we ready to go to work?" the Chief asked. When no further comments were made Chief Houts dismissed them suggesting they give the report that was handed out a look and then added, "By the way, I've seen one of their rehearsals, and I can tell all of you that anyone who buys a ticket to this thing is going to get their money's worth and then some. These men have really outdone themselves."

All of the men began to make their way to their response vehicles. Some of the men went directly to their trucks; others took slight detours to shake the hands of the men of station 51 and confirm their loyalty and trust in them as well as congratulate them on the success of their program.

More than once they were asked who the seventh person was and after sharing sideward glances and cheesy grins they all refused to reveal the secret identity of the seventh dancer.

When John and Roy finally made it to the squad they, like the rest of their crew, were feeling a lot better. They still had a supply run to make so while the engine returned to the station John and Roy headed for rampart.

"I was wondering there for a while if Chet was the one who requested preferential treatment." John joked with Roy as he drove, "That guy is driving me nuts. If he thinks I might as much as break a fingernail he tries to protect me."

"He really does not want to shave his mustache off." Roy smiled as he drove. Roy too was relieved that the special treatment order had been completely lifted and clarified.

"It's a shame too," Johnny added as they closed in on the emergency department for their supplies. "Cuz Chet would really be better in this part than I am. I'm tall enough that it's harder for me to do the really cute stuff like slide between Cap's legs and some of the acrobatic stuff on the wire."

"Just do me a favor," Roy turned to his partner after the squad was parked but before they climbed out, "If you're going to get yourself hurt so that he has to play the part just wait until after next shift." Roy leaned out of the squad door and then turned back, "And get him a really good fake mustache to wear until his grows back."

-0-

Brice came by the station after his doctor's appointment, he was walking without crutches now, he'd already been testing the waters for over a week now during rehearsals.

"I really want to thank you guys for not throwing me to the wolves today," Brice spoke with a humbleness no one had ever seen from him before.

"You're welcome Brice, but we don't know what you're talking about," Hank questioned when he noticed the puzzled looks on his men's faces.

"When they were asking who the seventh dancer was," Craig enlightened them.

"Oh that," Marco commented while the rest of the men grinned with understanding.

"Well we didn't do it for you Brice," Chet, well let's just say Chet was being himself. "We just figured we could sell more tickets if they had to buy one to find out who the mystery dancer was."

Somehow they made it through the shift. The rest of the firefighters were much easier to work with after Chief Houts conference. That didn't keep them from teasing though. They were all able to take it in stride because, "This is nothing like we dished out to Cap when we first found out he was dancing," Chet pointed out.

Chet continued to drive John nuts, He couldn't go anywhere without Chet following him and he'd turn around and run into him frequently, especially in a fire. Fortunately there had only been two of them and one was in an abandoned storage shed. John and Roy had been sent in just to make sure there were no transients squatting there and Chet kept them a little better covered than usual.

On their last break between shifts before the curtain went up they ran through the production from beginning to end four times. The wire system they were told was operational by the end of the day but they were tired so Cap declared they'd deal with it after the next shift.

-0-

On their last shift before the production Hank was so close to sending his Irish lineman home, if he heard the man ask Gage if he was alright one more time-

Twice during the shift John took Chet by the shoulders and backed him into a seated position before he immediately commanded, "Stay, Stay, that's a good boy, Stay."

The second time was while he was fixing dinner. That time before he took Chet by the shoulders he picked up a chair from the table and placed it in the farthest corner of the room first and then he sat Chet in it. Every few seconds John would turn and call out, "Stay, Stay right there, that's a good boy. Don't move now."

After repeating that action a few times John still noticed that Chet was as antsy as all get up and kept trying to get up and come help him.

"Chet," Johnny tried a different tactic, "you do realize don't you that even if I were to cut myself fixing dinner, or even if I burned my fingers, I'd still be able to play my part in the production."

That did seem to ease Chet up a little, but only a little and only for a few hours.

When Squad 51 was called out at 3 a.m. for a man down at a bar, Chet got up and pulled on his bunker pants right along with the paramedics. He followed them as far as the Captain who had handed them their call slip and was planning to go back to be,

"We are going with them aren't we?" Chet asked.

Hank rolled his eyes and shook his head and in the process realized it wasn't such a bad idea, "Alright guys we're going with them."

There were no objections.

When they arrived on scene there were three police cars and everyone was quick to figure out that the reason the man was down was a combination of too much to drink and being hit over the head by a beer bottle.

While they were there another fight broke out, no one knew for sure why other than the over consumption of alcohol, while the police were cuffing the worst of the fighters one man shouting profanities started toward John swinging a beer bottle over his head. Mike, Marco and Chet came together to stop the man long before his bottle connected with John's head.

Ten men were finally hauled to Rampart where John and Roy were put to work helping to treat their wounds or hold them down so that a Doctor could treat their wounds before all but one of them were hauled off to jail.

One more quick run for a child having an asthma attack and they were headed back to the station eager to give the keys to the next shift.

-0-

Back at the station Hank was surprised when the next shift came in an hour early. After giving Captain Hookraider a questioning glance he was told, "Rumor has it that there is a severe case of butterflies on your crew."

"Yeah," Hank rolled his eyes for the hundredth time that shift. "It's called Chester B. Kelly."

Hank sighed and then slumped into his chair in the office where he was just starting end of shift paperwork.

"He must have the lead in this thing you're doing for the chief," Hookraider smiled enjoying the exasperation of his counterpart.

"Not yet," Hank gave him an appreciative grin, "He's the understudy for the part of Peter Pan and he doesn't want to shave his mustache."

Hookraider just laughed.

-0-

Hank finished his paperwork and stepped out of the office to see a plain clothed Chet and Marco waiting for something.

"Go home you guys; get a couple of hours of sleep before rehearsals." Hank tried to shoo them out of the station.

"I will as soon as Gage and DeSoto get back." Chet stood his ground with so many nerves that he nearly trembled at his captain's side.

"Roy just called from Rampart, they're on their way back will you get out of here already." Hank tried again.

"Hank, Phone," was heard from the office and Hank turned to answer it. He had just hung up when they heard Roy over the radio.

"L.A. this is Squad 51, we have a traffic accident with injuries at the entrance to the parking lot for the supermarket on Sepulveda, please dispatch an Engine crew, ambulance and police."

-0-

Three cars pulled into the parking lot of the supermarket and out jumped three firemen, two in plain clothes, Chet and Marco, and one, Captain Stanley still in uniform. The accident had happened when a woman had tried to turn left into the parking lot and was struck by another car. It looked fairly minor, Hank approached Roy and was told there were a possible broken arm and several lacerations, and he didn't think they would even need to ride in the ambulance with any of them. That's when they heard the shouts coming from John's direction.

"That's my kid in that car and I want him out here right now so that I can talk to him." This very large man that looked like he could make two of John was yelling. Before Hank could get over there to help defuse the situation the man started swinging fists, one, two, three, a left a right and a left right into John's stomach.

Three police officers moved in to subdue and cuff the angry man while John wrapped his arms around his stomach and slid down against the car and into Hanks arms.

-0-

An hour later Mike and Roy joined Chet and Marco in the waiting room. Hank had asked Chet and Marco to put John in the cab of his truck and then sent Roy to take the squad back to the station, change and get John a change of clothes.

Hank had intended for Marco to take one of John's arms and Chet to take the other and walking the half bent over paramedic to his truck but he soon heard John declaring rather loudly, "I can walk!"

The two men had pulled his arms over their shoulders and after locking their hands behind his back reached down under his legs and locked their hands there in what is known in the rescue world as a Chair carry. John was then picked up off of the ground and carried to Cap's truck.

Once at the emergency room there was a wheelchair waiting for John before he could get the truck door open.

"I can walk," John insisted, "I just got the wind knocked out of me."

Hank smiled placed a hand on John's shoulder and then spoke. "John, you can get in that chair and let this pretty young nurse wheel you into the emergency room or you can sit here until Chet and Marco get here and let the beautiful young lady watch them put you in that wheelchair."

John sighed, rolled his eyes and gave no further argument.

When Dr. Brackett heard that John had gotten injured this close to the production he hung around after he was off shift and nearly pushed Joe Early out of the way to take care of him.

Just after Mike and Roy arrived in the waiting room Hank stepped out of the treatment room and walked down the hall.

"Chet," Hank called out once he was close never expecting how his linemen/understudy would respond.

At hearing his name called Chet turned as white as a ghost and slowly sank into the chair behind him. He then placed his face in his hands and began to mumble, "I'm going to have to shave my mustache. I'm going to have to shave my mustache."

"How is he cap," Roy asked more concerned for his partner than Chet's mustache.

"Doc says he just got the wind knocked out of him." Hank answered Roy bringing Chet around a little with a little more color in his face. "Just a few bruises, He's talking with the police now giving them his statement and then he can go."

Four men let out deep sighs but none more pronounced than Chet Kelly.

"Chet," Hank tried again.

"Yes Cap," Chet answered tentatively.

"The guy setting up the wires called just before Roy called that last accident in. He said the wrong harnesses were delivered and wondered if you or John could stop by the other location and pick up the right ones. Do you think you can handle that?"

"Sure cap," was Chet's answer and he couldn't get out of that hospital fast enough.

Hank was counting on that and as soon as he was sure Chet was out of hearing range he spoke to the rest of the group.

"John is really alright, just bruises but Doc's worried he might not handle the harness on his abdominal muscles. I didn't want to upset Chet any more until we know for sure. Dr. Brackett is going to come to our rehearsal this afternoon and keep an eye on John to make sure he's going to be okay."

Author's Notes:

Anyone who's read the two previous stories in this series already knows who's going to end up playing the part of Peter Pan. I'm just trying to write the story around a single sentence that I used twice.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

As soon as Officer Anderson was seen leaving the treatment room Roy excused himself from his fellow shift mates/performers and headed down with Johnny's change of clothes to help him get dressed. Once inside the room he watched as Johnny rolled over and pushed himself into a sitting position with his elbow. At that sight there was little hope in Roy's mind that John was going to be able to go on, at least not for a few days and probably not opening night.

"Well," Johnny started with a grimace, "I didn't quite manage to hold out till I was off shift but was this close enough?"

Roy was distressed enough about his partner and friend's obvious pain that he couldn't answer.

-0-

After being taken to Roy's for some lunch and a supervised nap John started to stiffen up and found it even harder to move than he had before. Determined that the show must go on John let Roy help him to the car and they made their way to the school where they were performing. When they walked into the back stage area that they knew like their own homes at this point, Chet was happily chattering with the men who were going to be running the wires as Dr. Bracket was talking to the man in charge of the wires.

"Is there some kind of padding we can put over his stomach?"

"Yeah sure Doc if you want him to look like he's five months pregnant," the technician answered.

"A pregnant Peter Pan, now that would be a sight," Chet responded with a peal of laughter as he turned around to look for his favorite pigeon. Once he laid eyes on John, Chet turned suddenly silent and started growing pale. John was standing, still half bent over with Roy holding firmly to one arm and the newly arrived Captain Stanley holding onto his other arm.

"Well," Johnny tried to stand a little straighter, and failed, "Let's see if this is going to work." John then slipped his sweat suit off from over his tights and stepped forward, shaking his holders off, to put on the harness. Turning his back to all of the women folk that were gathered John made sure the harness straps were appropriately placed.

One more request was made by Dr. Brackett for some extra padding before the operators listed several safety issues with that idea and then the buckle around John's mid section was tightened. Everyone watching John could tell it was painful but he held his breath and gave a nod, "I can take it." He responded and the signal was given to the men in the rafters to start pulling him up.

As soon as John's full weight was resting in the harness he started to pale and the increased pain was evident. Brackett motioned for him to be lowered and they tried to adjust he harness before trying it again. Three attempts were made before John nearly passed out and the harness was removed.

-0-

John was lain out on a pile of mats used backstage and examined by Dr. Brackett. Captain Stanley and Mrs. Merthner were pulled over for a conversation and then Hank and Mrs. Merthner walked away from the still resting John Gage as Jennie Martin moved in to give him a second examination in order to determine what moves John should do next to get him on the road to a rapid recovery.

As Hank walked out onto the stage he was quickly surrounded by the rest of the seven and he really put the fear in one curly haired Irishmen but placing his hand on his shoulder before he began to speak. "Doc says that there's still a chance that he'll be able to perform but he needs at least two days to heal up before we put him back in that harness."

"That's cutting it mighty close," Marco chose to state the obvious.

"Yeah, yeah, but it's out of our hands right now." Hank agreed then looked over at Chet, "Would you please stand in for the next two days of rehearsals?"

Hank knew very well that losing his mustache was the least of Chet's worries; he really had a very serious case of stage fright. It was one thing to perform in the back grounds with a group yet another to be upfront and the star that everyone was watching.

Glumly Chet gave a nod of his head and slowly moved to get into the harness and get it sized for him.

-0-

The next day John was moving much easier and able to dance most of the steps with the rest of the crew in the between scenes dances so Chet had hope that his Pigeon would soon be back on the wires. As a result the second day he really enjoyed playing the part drawing a lot of silent attention.

At the end of the second day they were once again at crunch time. A decision had to be made and it had to be made before the programs went to the printer. John Gage or Chet Kelly?

Hank pulled John to the mats where he had so often rested or performed exercises to get him back in form. Now sitting side by side Hank had to get a feel for what his Paramedic/performer was capable of.

"Doc says if you do this it could prolong the time it will take you to get back to work," Hank started the conversation.

"He said it might," John corrected, "not that it will." John then leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. "The thing of it is Cap, Chet has always been the better choice for this part. He's got the right build and size and you've seen what he can do on those wires. He's got a lot more skill with the flips and stuff like that. Not to mention the way he can slide between your legs during the dances. You know it's not really his mustache he's worried about."

"Yeah," Hank answered.

"You know I'm right too," John pushed the issue.

"Yeah," Hank again answered, "but how do I convince him?"

"Well if we can't then I'll go through with it, I'm not going to leave you hanging, the show will go on." Johnny confirmed his commitment, "But I'm not volunteering to do another one, at least not for a long while."

"Agreed," Hank spoke with emphasis.

Chet had been watching Hank and Johnny talking, he knew what was being decided, when he was waved over to join them he was pretty sure what the decision had been. He was somewhat relieved that John had agreed to play the part but knew it would cause him pain and delay his return to duty.

"Can I at least wait till opening day before I shave off my mustache?" were the words Chet used to confirm he was willing to play the part.

"I'll tell you what Chet. Bring your razor opening night and you can shave just before you go on stage how's that?"

"Thanks Cap."

-0-

The next step was to inform the others, everyone was gathered and Hank took the floor. "Alright everyone the decision has been made, Chet Kelly is going to be our Peter Pan, John Gage will continue to work in the other parts he's practiced with as well as take on the part of Tiger Lilly which will be changed to Tiger Lyle for the purposes of this production."

There were sighs of resignation mingled with a few chuckles, and a fair amount of sympathy for Chet. There wasn't a person there that didn't know Chet did not want to play the part.

The first objection came from young Jenny DeSoto, "But I want my Uncle Johnny to breath into me, his mustache tickles my nose."

Roy and JoAnne were quick to take their young daughter aside and explain to her why her uncle Johnny couldn't play the part.

Mrs. Merthner waited until she had Hank privately sequestered before she voiced her objections. "He can't play Tiger Lilly, there is no way he can learn those dances at this late date."

"He's not even going to try." Hank once again let this wonderful woman know who was in charge of the seven firemen dancers, she was just in charge of everything else. "John Gage is Native American he will wow everyone in the audience just by dancing the authentic Native American dances he learned and performed as a kid growing up on the reservation."

A good Captain knows all of his men's strengths and weaknesses, and Hank Stanley was a good captain.

"He's a what? Did you say he's a True Native American?" Mrs. Merthner was wrapping her head around Hank's idea. "And you say he grew up on a reservation and learned the real Indian dances?"

Hank just gave a knowing nod of his head and allowed silence as Mrs. Merthner turned her head this way and that allowing the mental pictures to develop in her brain.

"That works," she agreed.

-0-

From then on every rehearsal was a dress rehearsal. The first order of business was to alter John's costume to fit a much shorter and slightly stockier Chet. Their first mistake was to expect the tights and the costume that would be worn over them to stretch sufficiently. They did for a while but the last rehearsal before the opening Matinee for the children Chet tore it out. Not just a minor tear he tore out the whole side and the seat and crotch of his tights. Of course it wasn't his fault the person running the wires accidently brushed him next to one of the props and the costume caught on a corner.

Someone was instantly sent to the store to buy new tights, three pair just in case, while four women gathered around Chet with needle and thread and literally sewed him back into his costume. After the productions, both the matinee and the opening night, Chet would have to be cut out of it again. Meanwhile they would work on constructing a new one for later showing. The women were still franticly sewing when the cast gathered together off stage for their final preparations before going on stage. There was no time for Chet to shave his mustache.

"They're just children out there anyway they'll love it." Mrs. Merthner rattled on as she moved on in frustration to deal with something or other somewhere other than were the cast was gathered, She had already given the last minute instructions to the rest of the cast and it was Hank Stanley who would give the final pep talk.

"This is it guys," Hank started feeling his own butterflies, "I couldn't have asked more of any of you and now it's time to just do. Pretend it's a fire if you want but just go out there and do it like we've practiced. Let the cops take care of the bystanders and do our parts."

At that point little Jenny in her fairy costume with wings was lifted into her father's arms and everyone came together to touch hands in the air.

"Second star to the right," Hank started,

"And on till morning." The rest of them joined in to finish.

Since John, and Marco were playing several parts each, lost boys, Indians, Pirates, each one of them had their own person to help them change costumes between scenes, it was the only what they could keep it straight.

Because of the last minute changes in the casting and the script to accommodate those changes, several prompters were placed around the back stage and two in the orchestra pit with the latest of scripts in their hands.

JoAnne's backstage job was to keep track of when she needed to send which of her two children on stage or motion for them to come off. That was a very large job for just one person.

Everyone was peaking around the drapes to get a look at the children being seated and Johnny noticed one young boy quietly seated in the second row. Grabbing a play bill from one of the ushers and a marker from one of the back stage workers John scribbled 'Back stage pass for Adam Wickler and friends' on the play bill and ran out wearing a full Indian headdress over the top of his lost boys costume and handed it to the boy before hurrying back to his post and ready position.

Author's notes:

I want to go into some serious detail when describing the play as it unfolds so I am going to end this chapter here. For those who don't know who Adam Wickler is he is the young boy who's rescue led to the late night talk between Hank and Johnny on the hose tower in the story 'the Nutcracker' his appearance in this story as a follow up has been requested and I'm trying to comply.


	13. Chapter 13

Authors Notes:

In my research into the musical Peter Pan, I found there are many interpretations to the story. Which is why I established earlier that the script needed to be rewritten for this production to accommodate the cast members that they had available to them. Please do not slam me if I didn't write the version of the story that you've seen and loved and I do hope you are able to enjoy what is written here.

Chapter 13

When the curtain rose and all action off stage froze, the only actor on stage was Mike Stoker in the dog costume of Nana. Mike was demonstrating his flexibility but scratching his ear, or rather the costume ears with his foot. Trust me there are not very many adults that can get their foot anywhere near their ears.

Then in wandered Michael played by young Chris DeSoto, "But I'm not sleepy yet," the boy proclaimed.

"You say that every night and you're still always the first one to fall asleep," John, played by Craig Brice followed behind still limping slightly on his orthopedic boot. Chris then threw himself around Mike's furry costume and proceeded to act sound asleep.

Wendy, played by Kristen Stanley, danced through with a toothbrush still in her mouth, there was little dialog, since she had a toothbrush in her mouth but she dances around the stage set up as a nursery.

"Why must you always brush your teeth so long?" John chastised his sister.

"Because I want to have a beautiful smile when I meet the hero of my dreams," Wendy spoke dramatically and dreamily as she danced around the room looking skyward.

"You mean in your dreams, dear sister, in not of," John taunted, just one of the many lines that made Brice the perfect John.

In walked Mr. and Mrs. Darling, played by Hank Stanley and his wife Emily, young Michael is picked up from around the dog and carried into his bed and then there is a royal battle of wills between Mr. Darling and the Dog Nana. All of the children in the audience were laughing loudly and that just fueled Mike to play up the part that much more and rub his pretend loose fur all over Mr. Darling's tux. Hank played his part and ended up throwing Mike over his shoulder in a fireman carry and hauling him off stage to the supposed dog house. Being firemen they had to throw a fireman's carry into the production somewhere and that seemed one of the best places to do so.

Alas the lights were dimmed and everyone appeared to be asleep as little Tinker Bell, played by Jennifer DeSoto with a special spot light trained just on her and her very own sound effects. She was wearing the cutest little set of pink tights with a little tutu and silken wings attached to her shoulders as she tiptoes onto the stage holding her finger over her lips as if to tell the audience to be quiet.

Little Tinker Bell carefully opened cupboards and drawers and then she pulled something out of a toy cupboard Windy rolled over in bed and made some dreamy sound so Tinker Bell hurriedly hid inside the doll house and was thus pulled off stage for a moment letting the light and a soloist playing a flute in the orchestra play her part for awhile.

(they had worried early on, about tiring the young girl out too much during rehearsals so that special spot light had been what the rest of the actors had played against most of the time, they only brought little Jenny in for one go through about every other day and that worked for her.)

That's when the bedroom windows magically open to show the stars and the moon and one green tighted and hairy mustached Peter Pan floats into view. Although he was very nervous Chet was holding all the right leg positions and was moving his hands as if he were treading air. The hush that fell over the crowd seems to unnerve him the most.

Wendy rolls in her sleep and mumbles yet again and Peter Pan quickly moves to the side so as not to be seen. Just then one of the back stage people bumped in to six stacked metal garbage cans that had been mistakenly stored off stage by a janitor during the night. The crashing sound startled Chet and he lost his hold on the wires and as the men operating the wires tried to help him he drifted in front of the open window once again only this time he was upside down and struggling. The children in the audience roared with Laughter and John Gage seeing his friends near panic whispered loudly. "It's Okay Chet they love it just play it up and everything will be alright."

Chet soon gained control on the wires and started to bask in the laughter of the children. He knew he could do this and he did.

Chet was lowered down onto the stage where he retrieved his missing shadow that Tinker Bell had dropped when she got scared and proceeded to demonstrate the dancing skills he had learned in an attempt to reattach it to himself.

The children in the audience laughed so loudly at his antics that at one point he adlibbed, placing his finger over his mouth to try and shush the audience before adding the words, "You'll wake them up," While pointing to the other actors on stage. That part would be added to all of the rest of the showings.

As the story goes Wendy is awaken by his attempts to get his shadow to stick back on and then she offers to sew it on for him. When Wendy sticks him with the needle he yelps and Wendy's brothers wake up. Then with a little help from some Pixie dust thrown by a not so jealous Tinker Bell, since her Uncle Johnny was no longer playing the part of Peter Pan, they all fly off to Never Never Land.

All of the between scenes dance routines centered on Hank Stanley as Captain Hook, except the one where they first arrive in Never Never Land. Then most everyone was dancing to their own beat behind Tiger Lyle, played by John Gage, when he wasn't playing one of the lost boys or one of the pirates that is. John was dancing the Native American Eagle dance with a full display of feathers, turkey feathers not eagle feathers, and authentic bells tied around his calves.

Mrs. Merthner was seen off stage holding her hand over her heart in near tears of total admiration at the display that was shown in that dance. The man was totally impressive just as Hank had known he'd be.

There were two dance routines choreographed around Hank and Kristen playing the parts of Captain Hook and Wendy. They were truly the best dancers in the cast and their skills were highlighted whenever possible especially they're ability to spin around without getting dizzy. One of the dances was a chase scene before Wendy and the lost boys missing Peter Pan are captured. The other is after the capture while Captain Hook is trying to persuade Wendy to become his Mommy. Hank and Kristen may have finally managed to get through that part with out laughing but no one else did. The later of the two dances had a grand final move of Mike coming in as the crocodile trying to capture the Pirate leader and Hank making a grand leap over the crocodile while Mike is up on what looks like the crocodile's hind legs trying to snap Captain Hook out of mid air.

If sound could truly raise the roof then it would have with the loud, "Wow!" that came from every member of the audience whether child or grown up when they saw that move.

When Little Tinker Bell drank the poison juice to protect her beloved Peter Pan, Roy and JoAnne had to do some talking to convince young Jenny to still drink the only pretend poison juice even thought it was now Chet playing the part of Peter Pan instead of her Uncle Johnny, and even though Chet was sometimes mean and played jokes her Uncle Johnny.

Jenny's, or rather Tinker Bell's, death scene, or near death scene as it turned out to be, was dramatic and drawn out but still wonderful, especially from someone of her age.

Chet was almost believable when he tenderly lifted her limp body into his arms and presented her to the audience, begging between acts of giving mouth to mouth resuscitation for them to clap loudly to show the small fairy that she is believed in so she would revive.

Alas it was time for the big rescue from the pirates and grand finale dance that ends as they make Captain Hook walk the plank and then Wendy and her brothers fly back home.

The final scene back in the nursery as Wendy and her brothers wake up and try to find their new friends as both mother and father, now wearing house robes, try to convince them it was all a dream, as the children are led off to breakfast Peter Pan drifts by the open window one last time and the curtain falls.

Every attempt was made to highlight everyone involved in the play making the final bows a well involved act in its self. When the orchestra pit was raised at the end and the orchestra allowed to receive the audience's full attention as they play a round of the theme song, 'I'll never grow up,' the cast moves off stage to give them their moment and John Gage could see that his back stage pass was being used.

John hurried over to the person guarding the steps to the stage informing her that the backstage pass was for real and to let the children come up. At the head of the line was Adam Wickler being carried by his father, he had one arm around his father's neck and in his other hand were a set of crutches. On one of his feet was an orthopedic boot just like the one Craig Brice was wearing.

"What happened to you?" John asked quickly.

One of the main rules in his line of work was so drilled into them it was referred to as rule number one, but it was also the hardest rule to keep. John had not seen young Adam since he had led him back stage to meet with his captain after he had danced onstage in the Nutcracker nearly seven months ago. He first met the young boy just a few days before that on a call to help a person stuck in a tree only to find Adam ready to step off the railing of a tree house with a rope tied around his neck. The vision of that boy ready to take his own life and the taunting from his so called friends on the ground haunted John until he escaped his crewmate to the solitude at the top of the hose tower. Cap had been the one to talk him down when he returned to work after his opening night with his daughter. He later invited John to bring the boy to talk to him so that he could help convince the boy there was nothing wrong with a man dancing so there was nothing wrong with a boy dancing.

Now here the boy was, still alive and with the smile of all smiles on his face as he rest in his father's arms back stage.

"They did an operation on my ankle to make my limp go away," Adam answered John's question.

"So how are you doing otherwise?" John asked.

"I'm doing great, I've got all new friends now and you know what?" Adam was talking excitedly.

"NO what?" John begged him to continue, it was times like these that kept people in his profession glued together through all the hard times.

"Me and my new friends challenged my old friends who aren't my friends any more to a baseball game just before I had my surgery and we beat 'em, even with my limp." Adam talked fast without taking a breath so there was no indication of punctuation in his voice.

The boy's father set him down on the floor and helped him to get his crutches under his arms as the boy continued to talk to Johnny.

"Was that really Captain Stanley who played Captain Hook?" Adam continued to talk fast and with excitement.

"Yep it was," John confirmed.

"Did he really jump over that Crocodile or did he use wires?" Adam continued to question.

"That was all Captain Stanley, no wires or anything else. You know he once jumped like that at a fire and saved my life." John continued to let this young boy know that dancing didn't make you less of a man or a sissy of a person.

"WOOOW!" Adam exclaimed. "What about that guy who has a boot on like mine, it that for real or is it just part of his costume?"

"It's for real," John confirmed, "He got hurt at a fire but we couldn't find anyone who could be a good John so we let him stay with the cast."

"You mean he's a fireman too!"

"Yep, firemen Paramedic just like me."

"Can I meet him?"

"You bet you can, His name's Craig Brice you just hobble on over there and tell him you're a friend of mine." Johnny directed and watched the young boy go, taking a slight detour to speak with Captain Stanley on the way. John was thrilled to see that his Captain recognized the boy and remembered who he was.

The stage was now flooded with children, the person guarding the stairs didn't know where Adam Wickler's group stopped so she just let them all in. Every one of them had latched on to one of the performers and were talking to them.

As John was smiling at the sight before him Adam's father stepped close to him. "I'll never be able to thank you enough for what you've done for my boy. You know that baseball game he was telling you about?" John nod his head, "He left out all of the best parts of the story. See he and his friends were at the park playing, some of his new friends are ones he met at the hospital, one boy only has one arm, another only one leg and walks with prosthesis, another one or the boys went through Chemo and has no hair. Well the other boys from the neighborhood and some of their fathers were at the park too and they started making fun of them well more of Adam, telling him he could only make friends with freaks and stuff like that. Well Adam challenged them to a baseball game against his new friends and they didn't just beat them they annihilated them. The other team never made a run, the boy with only one arm pitched and the other kids couldn't touch the ball. Adam's team crossed home plate 18 times before the other boys quit. The boy with the prosthetic leg made two runs and so did Adam.

"After the game was over Adam looked at those other boys and their dads, the ones that always made fun of him, and he said something like, he guessed it wasn't him or his limp that kept them from winning before after all.

"I know it wasn't a very nice thing to say but inside I was just screaming 'YES' ya know, My son really knows he's somebody of worth now. I think he's really going to be alright. I'll never be able to thank you enough for what you did for him."

John turned to face Adam's father to see tears streaming down his face, John let his tears join them, "I was just doin my job."

"I know I have no right to ask you for anything more," Adam's father started a slight request, "But see that little girl over there?"

John followed the man's pointed finger to see a small child that he guessed to be about four years of age; he was surprised to hear that it was a girl because she had no hair and dark sunken eyes that were taking in all of the performers with the awe and amazement of a child.

"Today's her eighth birthday," Adam's father continued and John turned to him in shock, there had been enough said at that point to go with what was seen for John's trained mind to fill in all the rest of the information. Anything that was asked, John would have done everything in his power to fulfill.

Minutes later Johnny was leading Jennifer to the little girl's side; her one request had been to meet Tinker Bell. The mustached Peter Pan soon made an appearance and an extra set of fairy wings were placed on the girl's shoulders as Chet made a big deal about a new Fairy on the scene. She was given the name of Blue Bell and told it was for her bright beautiful blue eyes.

Happy birthday was sung to her with several different choruses. First the pirates with a serious growl worked into the notes, then the lost boys, terribly out of tune, then the choir with a full Orchestra accompaniment then a cake that had been on the bus to be presented at a park nearby after the play was presented for the girl to blow out the candles. While all this was happening the little girl wrung her hands together excitedly and squealed with delight. Then Captain Hook offered to make anyone she wanted, walk the plank for her birthday present.

The small girl closed her eyes and ran in a circle with her finger pointed and randomly stopped in front of Johnny who did his best to put on a show of walking the plank before finally stepping off into the mats behind the back drop.

Then of course there were a mountain of play bills to be autographed and several people from the committees running around with cameras trying to photo document the grand occasion for posterity. John had several children photographed with him and noticed several boys with similar orthopedic boots and one with a prosthetic leg posing for a photo with Craig.

When the children were finally herded back onto the bus and the bus drove away with the cast members waving to them and them waving back there was a feeling that no matter what happened with the rest of the shows this one made all their work worthwhile.

"That little girl doesn't have much time left does she?" Chet asked as he continued to wave. John's eyes just glistened with moisture as he slid his tongue to his back teeth and gave a very subtle shake of his head to confirm Chet's understanding.

When the bus was finally out of sight Captain Stanley clapped his hands and then rubbed them together like he always does when it's time to move on. "Well guys, I hate to say it but we have a lot of work to do and if we don't hurry up we're not going to make it in time for the next show."

Everyone returned to the stage still smiling and as Chet passed by, Hank placed a hand on his shoulder while bringing his watch into full view with his other hand. "Well Chet, it looks like that mustache of yours has escaped the razor again."

Chet just moved to better see the captain's watch and just smiled. Then he remembered a new tear in his costume that he needed to get sewn up before show time.

-0-

The second show made for a very long day and a lot of very tired performers. Little Jennifer fell asleep after her big revival scene in the second showing and didn't make her final stage appearance. When it was all done and the final bows were made Chet was cut out of his costume with promises that one he could just put on and take off would be completed before show time the next day. He then pealed the harness from his tired body and pulled a pair of old sweats over his sweat saturated green tights and started for the exit.

"Chet," Hank called out to get him to wait so that he could catch up to him. "About that mustache-"

"I'll shave it off first thing in the morning," Chet cut his captain off.

"Actually, I think you should keep it." Hank told the surprised Irishman. "It fits with this production, makes it more unique, more our own. I really think you should keep it."

Chet did.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Twenty-two local and statewide publications, including TV news, newspapers and small weekly trade magazines did reviews on opening night. Some of them wouldn't come out until the performances were over but there was enough said on the eleven o'clock news and in the entertainment section of the morning paper to inspire the last available tickets to be sold before noon the next day.

That kind of press was unheard of for an armature production of this nature. The only explanations were someone on one of the committees had connections and firemen in tights are a news worthy event.

There was talk of being held over yet again but the firemen in the cast, all of them not just the Red Hot Seven, were ready to get back to fighting fires. Before they could make their wishes known however Chief Houts gave the final word. A large wild fire had started just a little north of their area; He needed his firemen back at their posts.

Hank was afraid of his men getting more nervous than they already were, or worse that one or more of them would get swelled heads, so they were all advised not to read or watch any of the reports until after the last production and then they planned to get together as a group and read them out loud.

They had all seen enough on the morning news to know that they had made a positive impression and were liked. That was good to know. They could now go into the rest of their shows knowing that even if people were buying tickets to laugh at them they were changing their tune before they left the auditorium.

So once again they started to gather at the school for the next performance, the seven dancing firemen among the first ones to arrive. The first thing they did was walk around the stage and back stage area to make sure all that they were going to need was there and in good condition, especially the wires, and that there was no damage to the props. Chet was thrilled to see his new costume laid out for him. Today at least he wouldn't have to stand still for hours while he was sewn into and then have to be cut out of his costume.

Several commented that Chet still had his mustache and Cap was quick to let everyone know that he'd told him to keep it. "It fits with our image and helps to make this production our own," He had said.

Then they began to stretch out, casually at first more of a waking up the muscles approach. While they did so they talked about the two performances the day before. They talked of what had worked well and what they could improve upon. There was talk of including the crashing garbage cans in all of the shows but they had been order to be removed immediately after the first showing by the school principal who was embarrassed that they had been put there in the first place, it wasn't something they felt strongly enough about to have them brought back so they dropped it.

Most of all they were all glad that there was only one show tonight. Doing two in one day took a toll. They all knew they had agreed to do two shows on the last day but were relieved that there was a longer break between the two shows and that they weren't expected to do a meet and greet between like they did the opening day. Then their thoughts turned to the kids, some thought of the tiny little girl turning eight and doubting she'd be seeing nine. John and Cap thought of Adam, they knew they'd helped to make a positive and hopefully lasting difference in that young man's life and it warmed their souls.

Craig Brice remembered being asked for his autograph and to have their pictures taken with him. Not something he had ever had happen before. He marveled, out loud once or twice, that he was a hero to them not because of some death defying act to save someone from a burning building, but simply by carrying on while wearing an orthopedic boot.

-0-

The week went on, at the end everyone was tired but only half glad it was all over, it had been fun but the firemen were also ready to get back to work. Even a four alarm fire was looking like a vacation after the week they'd had.

Somehow Hank had made it through all nine shows without throwing his back out when he hauled Mike, while wearing his dog costume, off the stage in a firemen's carry.

Little Jenny had stolen the hearts of one and all with her performance of Tinker Bell.

Chet brought the house down in loud laughter when making his first appearance floating past the open bedroom window every single performance but he also won the admiration of every person seated in that auditorium before flying off to Never Never Land

They had truly impressed many with their dancing skills and other moves every night but none as much as Hank Stanley and his daughter Kristen. Hank's leap over the upright crocodile rose the roof with stunned gasps of pure amazement every single performance and was shown on three TV channels winning the 'Seven' an invitation to be on the Johnny Carson show in a couple of weeks. Jennie was going to help them work up a special dance number for the event. After they'd all caught their breath from the production.

On the second to last night of the performances Chief Houts took the stage at the end of the production,

"Usually, when I give out awards like I am tonight, I'm telling stories of life risking heroism needed to save the lives of others. But the words at the top of these commendations state, Above and Beyond the Call of Duty.

"When I asked a small group of firemen to put on a performance for the purpose of convincing the rest of their fellow firemen that this kind of activity was not beneath those of their manly profession and hopefully to open their minds to the benefits of these activities," he still managed to keep from saying the word Ballet in public, "What I had in mind when I made this assignment is nowhere near what you have all seen tonight and hundreds, in fact into the thousands of people have seen this week. Each and every person involved with this production has gone miles above and beyond what I envisioned when the assignment was given and I am honored to be able to present them the following commendations here tonight."

Chief Houts then called out the names of every single firefighter associated with the production starting with the Choir and orchestra and then calling the back stage assistants out from behind the sets before ending with the seven firemen that had been center stage.

The cast then took the moment behind the spokesmanship of Hank Stanley to recognize with a gift and a bouquet of flowers the following: the presidencies of the two committees that had been so instrumental in pulling the production together, Mrs. Merthner, and Jennie Martin.

When they couldn't convince the men or the fire department to do more performances, the THEY turned out to be more influential and higher reaching than the men knew, movie cameras began to appear in several places in the auditorium. Someone with the knowhow would be cutting and splicing the best of all the shows together along with all of the news commentaries surrounding the show for a home movie. They hoped to sell a copy to each of the cast members and there was talk that it might end up on PBS TV.

"I am going to be so glad to get back to work," Marco was one of the first to speak when The Red Hot Seven plus a few other adults sat together till sunrise after the last performance, in the quiet of Hank's back yard, drinking a few beers and talking. "Once I'm in my uniform I won't have to worry about whether I'm a pirate, or a lost boy or an Indian at the moment, I can just be a fireman and that's all I want to be."

"What's PBS TV?" Chet asked about the announcement that had been made at the end of their matinee production earlier that day.

"It stands for Public Broadcasting System. It's the channels that run shows like Sesame Street and other educational shows." Roy was able to explain.

"Hey that's great Chet might be on TV right alongside Kermit the Frog." Johnny chortled, "That's fitting their both green, and if you have trouble telling them apart, just remember the frog is clean shaven."

They all took a moment to make a mental picture of Chet alongside the famous frog and managed to laugh. Well all except for Craig Brice, he was rather quiet in the background rubbing his ankle. He had been out of the boot for three days now except for when he was on stage; his doctor didn't want him to reinjure his ankle with the stress on it during a performance. No one had any idea why he was so quiet or what to say or do about it, so they just carried on.

"Just remember Johnny boy, that should have been you swinging around from the rafters." Chet tipped is half empty beer bottle pointing it toward the dark haired paramedic.

"No," Johnny gave the Irishman a knowing smile. "It was the best person for the part that ended up with it."

"I must admit I was a little nervous when the parts were changed so close to production time," Mr. Merthner added her evaluation of the now finished production. "But putting Mr. Kelly on the wires was the best decision you made." Her full attention was on Hank Stanley who was relaxed and just about to fall asleep in his lounge chair.

"I disagree," Johnny spoke up again feeling a little boisterous after his second or was it his third beer. "That was his second best decision. His best decision was to allow our Peter Pan here to keep his security blanket." Johnny reached out and tugged at a few hairs in Chet's mustache while everyone laughed.

"I will also admit that I had issues with that hairy upper lip of yours Mr. Kelly," Mrs. Merthner spoke again, "Until I read the article where they quoted Mr. Stanley's answer to the question of why our Peter Pan had a mustache."

Mrs. Merthner then reached down to a stack of papers on the ground near her feet and shuffled through them till she found what she was looking for and began to read aloud.

"When asked why the actor playing the part of Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up, had a full bushy mustache, Assistant Director Henry Stanley, who is also the fire Captain for the dancing firemen in the cast as well as playing the part of Captain Hook, gave the following explanation. Growing older is not something that any of us have any control over. Growing up however is another matter all together. The Mustache on our Peter Pan is ment to motivate each person to remember their youthful passions for fun and fantasy in spite of their accumulation of years. I really think it fits with our group and this particular production. Kind of represents who we are and the need to still act like a kid sometimes."

Hank twirled his beer bottle in his hands in a thoughtful manner with a sheepish grin on his face. "I gave that interview just minutes before I told Chet to keep his mustache," Hank revealed, "I'm kind of glad now that he didn't shave it off. It might have ruined the play."

The men of station 51 were directed to places in the yard where Hank knew they'd be in the shade when the sun finished coming up and they stretched out on provided blankets to sleep off their refreshments. Hank then drug his lounge chair over next to them and lay it flat, as he stretched out looking at the first hints of morning Hank was grateful that someone else was taking care of getting all of the props and costumes back where they belonged. He and his men had one day to catch up on their rest and then they were back on duty. Hank was ready for life to get back to normal, or at least as normal as it could be after what they'd done.

Author's Note:

This is not the end there is still a bit of this story to tell and a few lose ends to tie up. I'm not sure if it will be one or two more chapters so we'll just have to see.


	15. Chapter 15

Author's Notes:

Sorry this chapter has taken so long, in the mist of getting children registered for a new school year and my son decided to break his elbow, sorry he fractured his elbow, that sounds more dignified to him. We've had our hands full here and there's more to come. I'll get the part about the Johnny Carson show out as soon as I can, it is easy to write between changing ice packs we just have to wait and see what the Ortho says.

Chapter 15

There wasn't a member of Hank's crew that wasn't at least a little apprehensive about their first day back at their real jobs. It was agreed that they would all meet for breakfast at a little diner near the station and then head on in to the station in a convoy. Hank thought the hardest part of this arrangement was going to be deciding on what time to meet. He was quite surprised when they agreed to meet at six a.m. so that Cap could be early enough to start his paperwork, and that's when Hank realized, if they didn't find some kind of a welcome back waiting for them at the station he wasn't going to be the only one that would be slightly disappointed.

Hank went to bed early in anticipation of his first post production shift back; he spent the first hour staring at the ceiling wondering if he should call someone at the station to make sure they knew they were coming back in the morning.

-0-

Six men sat around a group of tables in a café that looked to be still asleep, at the counter there were a couple of police officers just going off shift. At another table were a couple of construction workers finishing off their breakfast and getting their thermoses filled with coffee before going off to work.

The waitress took the firemen's orders and left them with full cups of coffee while they awaited their breakfast.

While they sipped carefully at the hot beverage, they also silently shared and near childish anticipation of their triumphant return.

"Does anyone know when Brice is going to be cleared for duty?" Chet surprised everyone when he voiced each of their silent thoughts.

"He has a doctor's appointment sometime later today," Roy knew the answer, "if all goes well he should be back in the squad in a day or two."

"Do you think his crew will welcome him back?" Johnny took a turn to voice the thoughts of the others. To this question no one seemed to have an answer so they all remained quiet until their breakfast was delivered.

"We should have invited him to join us for breakfast," Hank commented as he dug into his plate of scrambled eggs and hash browns.

-0-

At last a well fed crew pulled into the back lot of the station one by one each finding their traditional parking spaces waiting for them.

Hank was first to reach the building and used his key to open the rear door to the common room and let them all in. Each man then entered one at a time with a couple of shifts worth of uniforms over their shoulders.

The place was totally quiet, nice and clean, but no sign of life. The aroma of a fresh pot of coffee could be smelled and a glance through the open door to the bay proved that both trucks were in their place. Sharing eye contact but no words the men nearly tip toed through the kitchen, into the bay and then through the bay into the locker room. Marco was quick to go to the door to the dorm and look through the window just to make sure the last crew wasn't still in their bunks. He found the beds made so he returned to his crew mates.

"I didn't see any one but I'm pretty sure I heard someone laughing," Marco reported.

The six men now stood near their own lockers looking them over. There was nothing obvious but they were sure there was something waiting for each of them behind the closed doors.

"Okay who's going to go first?" Johnny moved to put his clean uniforms in a safe place, followed by most of his crewmates before they returned to face their still closed lockers.

"Let's do it together," Mike suggested

Hank looked around to see all in his crew were in agreement with that idea, "alright on three," he said and being overcome by the silence of the place Hank silently held up one finger, then another, finally three fingers were in the air as his crew followed his move to take hold of their locker doors and pull them open.

As soon as six men started laughing hysterically the door to the locker room burst open and the men were blinded by flash bulbs as two shifts worth of men rushed through the door. Hank and his crew were standing in front of their open lockers, inside of each one was hanging a pair of Fire Engine Red Tights. The two piece variety and a matching cape.

Cap was the first to pull the hanger from his locker and hold it up against his chest. On the front of the tights was a flaming number 7.

"We figured the Red Hot Seven needed appropriate uniforms," one person chortled.

"It's good to have our super firemen back pulling hose along with us normal guys."

"Yeah, we've been wondering if you guys were going to forget about all of us little people."

"Welcome back to the world of the working stiffs."

"Can I have your autograph?"

And similar remarks came at them from every direction as their hands were shook and the backs were pounded.

They were saved but the tones going off calling the on duty crew to a traffic accident with injuries and the A shift crew were then left alone to get into their uniforms, The blue shirts with the dark pants not the red tights.

Their first shift back had them rolling on a home fire started when a woman left her scented candle burning while she went to the store and it touched off the drapes in the kitchen. A car accident where a child had climbed in the car and knocked it out of gear so that it rolled into traffic and was hit by another car. The child was shaken up good by the impact and had possible fractures of both arms and a leg, but it was his mother that needed the paramedic's help when she hyperventilated in all the excitement and then went into early labor. She was seven months into a troubled pregnancy and the son who knocked the car out of gear was just trying to help her get the groceries in.

Both John and Roy were required to ride in the ambulance with mother and son and while they were waiting for whoever was going to be assigned to drive the squad to come get them Dixie got their attention at the nurse's desk.

"I've been asked to get you guy's autograph when you came in." Dixie smiled a cheesy grin as she placed half a dozen play bills on the counter in front of them. "By the way, you guys were great and who ever decided to let your Peter Pan keep his mustache was insane, wonderfully, deliriously insane."

With bashful grins Roy and John took turns signing their names on the inside back cover of the play bill where there was a picture of the main cast members which included the Red Hot Seven, Kristen Stanley and Jennifer DeSoto. They both signed above their picture and when Marco arrived to pick them up the play bills plus the ten more that had materialized while they were signing the first six were passed to Marco for his autograph.

"I guess it's not quite business as usual yet," Marco grinned and shook his head when the play bills were passed his way.

Before the three of them got back to the station they were called out to rescue a child who fell from the tree, when they arrived they found that the child a boy about twelve years old, had fallen while trying to build a tree house but he hadn't fallen all the way out of the tree, he was still hung up in the branches below where his boards were being nailed.

Marco was sent to call for an engine to assist them in getting the boy down and Johnny made a quick climb up the tree to get to their victim and secure him before he fell any farther.

Roy followed John up the tree a few minutes later with a splint and a few medical supplies in a pack on his back while a small crowd of neighbors started to gather, mostly children, friends of the boy in the tree but there were a few mothers there also keeping their children out of the way, or at least trying to and one father.

Marco returned with a Stokes stretcher and set it on the ground telling John and Roy help was on the way then waiting for them to tell him what they needed him to do.

"Mr. Fireman," one of the girls in the crowd got Marco's attention.

"Yes," Marco gave her permission to ask the question that she obviously wanted to ask.

"Do you know the firemen that have been dancing on the news?"

Up in the tree Roy and John shared a look as they worked together to splint the boys arm and immobilize his shoulder.

"Yes I do, I know them quite well," Marco answered below and then turned his eyes back to the men in the tree as the children let out a collective "Wow!"

Off to the side the police officer who responded along with the squad was snickering while he wrote down information he would need for his report later.

"That jump that one guy made," the father in the crowd spoke out, "where he jumped over the crocodile, that was done with wires wasn't it?"

"NO sir," Marco answered as he received an end of the rope dropped from above after they'd set up a sort of pulley system around one of the branches. As Marco held the rope steady he finished answering the gentleman in the crown. "Captain Stanley can really jump that high, he did it once during a fire and ended up saving the lives of three of his men."

Marco glanced to the side just enough to see the man's eyes open wide. Again all the children went "Wow!" A few of the mother's joined in this time.

"What about the guy that they showed on TV who did the Indian dance, is he a fireman too?" one of the boys asked while Marco held tight to the rope that was connected to a harness his crewmates had tied around the boy they were working on.

"Mat, I already told you that he had to be a real Indian because I saw them dance like that when we went to North Dakota last year for vacation." Another boy responded to the question asked.

"Actually," Marco responded as he wrapped the rope around his hips and put his weight into securing the boy in a safe position, giving Johnny a glance and a smile as he did. "He is both; he is both a real Indian and a real firefighter."

Again a collective "Wow!" Since the crowd was growing larger the Wows were growing louder. Up in the tree the boy they were working on looked at the two paramedics now waiting for help to arrive.

"Do you guys know the firemen he's talking about too?"

"Yeah," Roy responded with a faint smile at his partner.

"Yeah, we know them pretty well." Johnny added as he heard the fire sirens cut off about a block away.

When Engine 98 pulled to a stop the men on her made quick work of tying a second rope off to the Stokes Stretcher and worked together to pull it up to the men in the tree. In minutes the boy was on the ground and loaded on the ambulance stretcher before John and Roy managed to get out of the tree.

As John and Roy were walking along side their patient being moved toward the ambulance a small boy who was in the crowd gave a gentle tug on the bottom of Captain Morels turn out coat. "Did you know those guys know the firemen that can dance really good and that they're really really firemen?"

Captain Morels smiled as the police officer broke out in louder giggles; he was totally unable to keep writing at this point.

Captain Morels reached down and tasseled the young boy's hair, "Yes son, they know those firemen very well indeed, I know them too and yes they are all real honest to goodness real firemen, every one of them."

John climbed in the ambulance with the patient while Marco guided his mother to the cab and helped her in. When the ambulance pulled out all of the firemen helped to reload the rest of the equipment and rope, they were all grinning to each other but not a soul dared let it slip that the first three on scene didn't just know the dancing firemen they were part of the Red Hot Seven.

When Roy and Marco climbed in the squad to follow Johnny to the hospital the police officer stuck his giggling face in through the open door window. "You guys really take the cake, you know that. How you can talk about the things you do and still not let anyone know you're the ones doin the dancin," He paused and shook his head still giggling, "By the way you guys were great, can you Give Chester B a message for me? Tell him I've never seen a Peter Pan I liked better and my daughter loves that story so we've been to several productions of it over the years. He was something else, a real hoot to watch."

"We'll tell him," Marco responded as Roy put the truck in gear and pulled away from the curb.

Once they made it two blocks away from the rescue scene both Roy and Marco started laughing. "You were right when you said things aren't back to business as usual yet." Roy commented as he drove.

-0-

At the beginning of their second shift post production Johnny and Roy were walking from the locker room toward a hot cup of coffee as John pinned his badge in place.

"I sure hope things have calmed down a little from last shift, if you know what I mean." Johnny spoke as he continued to secure his badge in place and walk at the same time.

"Yeah, me too," Roy agreed swinging his arms at his side as he walked.

When they reached midway across the bay the squad backed into place from its last run and McGuire got out of the passenger side before it came to a complete stop. He slammed the door then turned back to yell through the open window. "Do not agree to cover for my partner again or so help me I'll, I'll, I'll throw up on your shoes so I can take a sick day too."

He then turned and noticed John and Roy standing in his path to the locker room, "How on earth did you guys manage to work with him long enough to get that play of yours off the ground?"

John started to move toward the driver's side of the squad where Brice was still sitting behind the wheel.

"He was the perfect John," Roy answered the other paramedic, "He played his part perfectly." Roy then turned to allow McGuire easier passage to the locker room and walked up to the passenger window leaning in. "Back to work less than two days and you're already pulling over time?"

"How's the ankle feeling?" Johnny asked leaning on his folded arms lain on the truck door.

"You don't think I'd be back on the job unless I was cleared for duty do you?" Brice answered with a bit of an attitude.

"I know you've been cleared for duty, I was asking how your ankle feels," John made his point clear.

Brice looked down then softened a little in his next remark to John. "It's going pretty good, aching a little but it'll be fine once I get off of it for an hour or two."

"If you're up to it around dinner time tonight we'll be starting to work on our routine for the Carson show. You should come by and join us and we'll help you stretch out your ankle while you're learning the routine."

"I don't know," Brice responded and both John and Roy chose not to push, having no idea how he had been received on his return to duty.

"Could I get the keys to the compartments so we can start counting supplies?" Roy asked reveling that without trying the handles that he already knew they were locked.

"Sure," Brice dug into his pants pocket and pulled out a key before handing it across to Roy through the open window. He then moved to open the truck door and John moved out of his way as Brice solemnly moved out from behind the steering wheel.

Hearing the conversation from the office Hank moved out into the bay and once Brice was out of the squad and the door shut Hank placed his hand on Brice's shoulder.

Brice gave him a surprised and almost challenging look but Hank didn't make any effort to remove his hand. "Could I speak with you in the office for a moment, please?"

Brice followed Hank into the office and cautiously sat in the chair he was directed to. Hank then closed the door half way. Far enough to give them some privacy but not enough to make the man in the chair feel trapped in any way.

"How's the ankle feeling?" Hank started out as he tried to find the most casual position leaning on the corner of the desk.

"Fine sir," Brice answered.

"I wanted to extend and official invitation to join us for the Johnny Carson show." Hank got down to business, "it won't be the Red Hot Seven without you."

Brice remained silent for a moment then cleared his throat. "Where did that title come from anyway?"

"All I've heard are rumors, I can't confirm anything," Hank answered, "But it would appear we're stuck with it at least for the time being."

There was another moment of silenced as Hank kept the expression on his face that told Brice that he was waiting for an acceptance of his offer.

"To be honest with you sir, I'm not sure this is for me," Brice proceeded, "I mean doing Peter Pan with you was fun and all but I just can't see myself in those red tights pretending to be some kind of a superhero."

Hank let out a sigh of relief and a smile that was clearly misunderstood.

"SO you didn't really want me in your group," Brice accused then sighed knowingly.

"No that's not it at all," Hank talked slowly but kept smiling, "I'm just glad you got your red tights."

"You're glad? You mean you didn't send them to me?" there was a very unBrice like look on Brice's face.

"NO, they were a joke that some of our fellow firemen, put together," Hank responded, "And before you get the idea that I'm enjoying that you were made fun of. That's not the case either. I'm just glad that you received the same welcome back into service that we did. That you've been recognized as one of us."

There was a melting effect as Brice settled a little lower in his chair. His face was one of deep thought and it was clear that he wasn't sure how he felt so Hank kept talking.

"I don't know what it's been like for you at your station but if you want to talk I'm a pretty good listener and I know what it's like when it's just you and the rest of the crew is teasing you for doing something, let's say, a little different from the rest."

Brice hung his head a little and spoke quietly, "I'm not getting anything like I was told you got when it first got out that you were dancing. Everybody knows I insist on all business while I'm at the station. Besides they know it's not just me that's doing it and the stories are getting around about how it helps you guys on the job."

"That's good to hear. Let me tell you about costume we've chosen for ourselves. They look just like our uniforms, but they're made from stretchy tights like material so that they'll allow the movements that we make but for all intent and proposes they are uniforms." Hank explained. "Of course they're not safe to wear to a fire because the material will melt if it gets too hot and the only time we can wear them is when were representing the department at approved functions."

There was another moment of silence then Hank asked again. "Can we count on you for the Carson show?"

"I'm still going to insist that the compartments of the squad are locked when I'm part of the team responsible for the safety of its contents," Brice answered, it was clear he was uncertain of the captain's intensions.

"If you didn't I'm sure your partner, whoever it was, would be checking your vitals, and the rest of the crew would be holding you down so that he could." Hank then sat in the next chair and leaned a little closer to the paramedic in his office. "When are you going to learn how to relax around your crew mates, allow yourself to be just one of the guys like you did with us on the production?"

"That sort of thing has nothing to do with being a fireman," Brice was talking in frustration fighting within himself to find the right words, "There's no rules, none, it's whatever you want to do and however it works best for the team, and if you make a mistake so what, there's always next time, no harm no foul, no life on the line."

Brice finally stopped talking but his frustration was still evident and he huffed in his chair.

"I disagree with you, I think it has a lot more comparison to being a firefighter than you realize. True in the department there are rules, you know that, you can quote them from memory backwards and forwards, but there are times and situations in this job that no one ever thought would happen so there are no rules to deal with them. We work with people and one set of rules just does not work for everyone in every situation. That's when we have to do just like we did in the production, figure out how to work best as a team and watch out for each other. I know that even you have tried something that didn't work on a fire or a rescue and had to back off and come up with a new approach. We all have, it's part of the job."

"You have a point there sir."

"I should have had you play the part of Peter Pan," Hank Joked, "give you a chance to lighten up a little bit."

"I'm afraid I'm not capable of growing a mustache sufficient to have done the part justice sir." Craig Brice answered with a hint of a smile.

Captain Stanley started laughing and smiled and the man in the next chair, "I knew Craig was in there somewhere."

.!


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Craig stayed in the office and talked until it was time for Roll call and he did return for the evening work out. Now they were all bouncing nervously in a back stage dressing room on the set of the Johnny Carson show. They were all stretched out and warmed up now they were just waiting for their guide to give them the nod to move out.

Their appearance started with a short dance demonstration. They had gotten together as a group and listed the moves they wanted to include and then Kristen and Jennie helped them put them together with some music. The routine only lasted about five minutes and included demonstrations of flexibility, balance, the ability to turn without getting dizzy and of course some high leaps, because of his ankle injury Craig wasn't able to match the leap height of the rest, so Craig moved to his knees in the middle of the group to imitate the moves Mike made as the crocodile to accent the height of Hank Stanley's leaps. The others took to the air at the same time in a grand final movement in a formation that showed them all but no one rose to the height of Hank Stanley.

Johnny Carson walked up to them clapping his hands as they made their final bows, bending at the waist and laying their chests against their legs, another show of flexibility and balance.

"How do you do that?" Johnny Carson asked, "How can they do that?" he then tried to bend over but could barely touch the floor with his fingers. "I thought I was flexible. Wow that's amazing."

The men were directed to a sectional sofa where Ed McMann was waiting and they sat in order of rank with Captain Stanley seated closest to the host.

"Wow," Johnny Carson repeated, "Do you have special insurance on your toes or anything? I mean in case they get burned or something like that?" Johnny asked bringing a round of laughter from the audience.

Hank just sat at the man's side blushing, rolling his eyes and shaking his head.

"Ladies and Gentlemen all joking aside I'd like to introduce you to the Los Angeles County firemen who make up the group 'the Red Hot Seven!' A loud applause rang out on the studio set and all seven of the firemen squirmed a little as each man was introduced to the TV audience by name and position on the fire department.

"I have to ask, who came up with the name for your group?"

Hank cleared his throat and moved closer to the microphone that had been set on the edge of the desk. Because of their dancing they were just now attaching a mic to each member of the group and they had started at the far end and hadn't gotten to Hank yet. "We haven't the slightest idea but the name has stuck like glue and we can't seem to shake it."

"I do imagine that this kind of attention is a little embarrassing to you men. Let's talk a little about how you got started in this." Johnny Carson got down to business, "According to my information Captain Stanley here was the first one to give this Ballet thing a try. What was your motivation?"

Hank gave a very brushed over explanation of his daughter showing him a magazine article on the benefits of Ballet to people in their line of work and how he agreed to give it a try to help her deal with her fears of him getting injured on the job.

"So have you found that doing Ballet keeps you from getting injured on the job?"

"Well, I can't say that I feel it's anything truly magic, but I have noticed an increase in flexibility that makes my job a little easier and a lot more control in the area of balance. Learning these skills allows us to work on individual muscle groups in ways that no other exercise can and that has proven a tremendous benefit in getting back on our feet after an injury. However there are some statistics that are showing that there has been a 14 percent reduction in injuries in our crew over the last year. To sum all this up these skills are just that little bit extra to help us stay on our toes, so to speak, but in no way do they take the place of everyday safety practices, planning and preparing and training that we do every day."

"Just a little bit extra," Johnny Carson parroted, "Not like you don't already do enough as it is. We have a clip taken from the production of Peter Pan that you guys just finished as a fund raiser for two different charities that support firemen and their families."

Everyone turned around and viewed the screen behind them where was showing of course the part where Hank and Kristen were dancing together before Hank made the often talked about leap over Mike's gapping crocodile Jaws. The studio audience supplied appropriate oohs and aws and wows.

"Now that young lady dancing with you in that clip is your daughter, is she not?"

"Yes," Hank spoke proudly,

"Is she here in the audience?"

"Yes, she's right over there," Hank pointed to his family including his daughter sitting together on the second row.

"Let's get her up here," Mr. Carson waved the girl up and she was stopped just short of the camera to clip a microphone to her blouse while the men slid down the line of sectionals to make room for Kristen to sit next to her father.

"You are indeed a very beautiful young lady; I bet your father threatens to follow you on all of your dates with a loaded fire hose to keep the young men in line." Kristen turned fire engine red and grinned but couldn't respond verbally.

"When you talked your dad into taking Ballet lessons did you have any idea that things would go as far as they have?"

Kristen continued to blush and looked over at her father who wrapped his arm around her shoulders to give her a squeeze. "I just love my Dad, a whole lot and wanted him to be safe." Kristen finally answered, "I never thought he'd really go through with it but I've got a really Cool Dad and he knew it was important to me. Then he asked me to take lessons with him so I could be his practice partner between lessons. Before we started I had no idea how much fun it would be to do something special like this with my Dad. There aren't too many Dads out there that are so totally cool like he is."

At her side Hank's eyes glistened as he pulled her closer to him while the audience sighed loudly.

"Well I'm going to have to agree with that statement," Johnny Carson acknowledged before telling everyone they were going to take a commercial brake.

When they were signaled to start again Johnny Carson moved down the line just a little, "Let's meet the rest of the men that make up this group."

"Mr. Stoker," Johnny Carson moved on "Let's start by showing a clip of you in the part of the family Dog."

They showed a section where Mike had really given his captain a bad time, in his role as Nana of course, before he was hefted over Cap's shoulder and hauled off stage.

"DO you usually give your captain that much grief?" Johnny teased.

"I hope not." Mike answered.

"I bet that was kind of fun for you especially given who you were playing up against, kind of one of those I can do whatever I want and he can't get mad at me moments."

"Yeah, it was kinda," Mike responded with a grin on his face and a wink toward his captain.

"So tell me how did the rest of you men react when you found out your captain was dancing?" Johnny Carson asked with a gleam in his eye. He had already talked with department headquarters and Chief McConnike and gotten some of the stories. "I suspect you were all just a little surprised by that news."

"Yeah, we were surprised alright." Mike responded as he and everyone else started to squirm in their seats, "In fact when I first heard it I didn't believe it until later during Roll Call when Cap confirmed that he had been taking dancing lessons with his daughter. Then I'm afraid we weren't real nice, we sort of gave him a bad time for a while till Cap put us all back in our place."

"Now I have to ask, how did you find out and just what did Captain Stanley do to put you all back in your place?" Johnny Carson asked and Kristen started to giggle a little next to her father.

"Well a," Mike stammered then looked down at Chet Kelly wringing his hands in his lap and trying real hard not to look at anyone. "When you want to get news out fast you can use a telephone, television or faster yet Tell Chet Kelly." Chet turned redder than he had been and the audience giggled and laughed. "Seems Chet was working an overtime shift when they rolled on an accident at the dance studio where Cap was working out with his daughter and a, well he made sure everyone he saw after that knew about it."

"And what did Captain Stanley have to do to get you all back in line after that? Do you have written reprimands in your files or was taking Ballet lessons part of your punishment?"

"Oh no, nothing like that he just volunteered us to stay up all night washing and waxing two fire engines, the squad and the Chief's car."

"Just the seven of you, that must have taken you all night."

"Actually there were only five of us." Mike clarified, "And yeah, it took us all night, but we did kind a, have it coming."

"Just what did you do?"

"Well Um, I'm going to plead the fifth on that one, I'd really rather not incriminate myself." Mike shied away from the question.

"Is it that or are you afraid of giving ideas to someone else out there?"

"Um, yeah, that too," Mike responded.

"So why did the rest of you start dancing?"

Mike quickly pointed to the man next to him, "Roy can answer that question better than I can. I just kinda came along with the rest of the guys for the most part. It does help a lot with strained back muscles thought."

Johnny Carson took the hint and moved on. "So Roy DeSoto right, you're a fireman paramedic is that right?"

"That's right," Roy responded trying with all his might to stay calm now that the attention was on him.

"So in addition to fighting fires you also take care of people with medical issues right?"

"That's correct."

"So Mike here has passed the ball to you to tell us what inspired the rest of you to start dancing along with your captain."

"Well," Roy started giving his wife a quick look then licking his lips a little, "There were different reasons for each of us but as for me, Um, after the incident where we stayed up all night washing and waxing all the trucks all of our wives started asking questions. Caps wife ended up explaining about the dancing and why her husband was doing it so my Wife thought if there was something I could do to increase even just a little bit the chances of me coming home after every shift I should do it."

"So you did it to help put your wife as ease with your job."

"Yeah, mostly."

"Now you had two children that also took part in Peter Pan with you is that right?"

"Yes, my Daughter Jenifer played the part of Tinker Bell and my son Chris was the youngest of the Darling siblings."

"Are they with us tonight?"

"Yes," Roy pointed to his wife and children sitting together and they responded by standing up to be recognized and Jenny just ran right up on stage and climbed in her father's lap, she didn't wait to be invited.

"Well hello there young lady, did you have fun playing the part of Tinker Bell?"

Jenny just smiled from ear to ear and bobbed her head up and down with so much excitement she was bouncing on Roy's knee.

"Mr. DeSoto, do you plan to follow your Captain's example and perform with your daughter as she grows up?"

Roy started to shake his head to the negative when Jenny blurted out, "I'm going to take him to school for show and tell." Anybody who saw the look on Roy's face could tell this was the first he'd heard of that idea and that he was already trying to figure a way out of it.

"What do you say we invite your brother up here too?" Jenny shook her head, she wasn't sure she liked that idea bringing more laughter from the audience.

JoAnne gave Chris a slight nudge and he walked up on stage trying to look dignified and ten years older than he really was before standing next to his father as Roy and Mike made room for him to sit down.

"Let's show a clip of these two in action," Johnny Carson motioned to the screen and a short clip of Jennifer sticking her tongue out at her brother before tossing glitter, er fairy dust at him and then hitting him on the head with her wand."

As the audience laughed Johnny Carson announced another commercial break, promising to talk with the rest of the crew when they returned.

-0-

While they were breaking for the commercial all of the children were directed back to their seats in the audience and the firemen shifted a little so that the next men to be interviewed were closer to the desk where Johnny Carson sat. When the commercial brake was over the cameras changed back and forth from Johnny Carson to the other Johnny, "Now it's time to meet the other Johnny on stage tonight. Here's John Gage also a fireman paramedic. How are you doing tonight?"

"Fine sir," Johnny responded with a nod of his head.

"Now, it's my understanding that up till a week before opening night you were the Lead in this production am I right?"

"Well," John twitched nervously and shifted in his seat, "I think Cap and his daughter were always the leads they can dance circles around any one of us, but yeah I was supposed to play the part of Peter Pan if that's what you mean."

"And then on the last response you made before you were off duty until after the production you were injured on the job. That must have been totally devastating for you to lose the lead that close to curtain time?"

"Not really, I'm a firefighter not a performer, I always thought that Chet was the best one for the part the only reason I got it in the first place was because no one else wanted it."

"That and we think of him as the one person on our team that best represents the boy that never grew up." Roy added a jibe and a laugh.

John gave his partner a glare and an elbow to the arm, his ribs were too well protected, "The truth of the matter is the Chet was always the best person for the part, his size in comparison with the rest of us made him better and he was great at doing flips and stunts on the wire that were harder for me because of my height. I really liked the part I ended up with better any way."

They then showed a clip of Johnny doing his Native American dance and commented on the authenticity of the moves before addressing that Johnny was a Native American and had learned those dances in his youth.

Then it was time to talk with Brice. "Ladies and Gentlemen next in line here is Craig Brice, also a fireman paramedic, now you're the only person in the Red Hot Seven who is not part of the same firefighting crew, How is it you became part of their dancing group?"

"I was working some overtime with this grew when they were deciding who should play which parts it was decided that I was a natural for one of the parts so I was invited to participate and found it quite enjoyable." Johnny Carson's crew then showed a clip of Craig playing his part and arguing with several of the lost boys before moving on to Chet. The audience laughed and then later when Craig admitted that he was single there was a audible sigh amongst the ladies. It was fun for the guys to watch Brice blush, not something they had ever seen before.

"Next up is Marco Lopez, he played the parts of one of the lost boys, one of the Indians, and one of the pirates, each with their own costumes. How did you know which one to wear when?"

"Oh that part was easy," Marco exclaimed, "They had someone back stage that handed me the right costume whenever I needed to change so all I had to do was hurry and change." Quick still shots of Marco in each of his costumes were shown and then-

"Next our man of the wires, the mustached Peter Pan, Mr. Chet Kelly," Johnny Carson was being motioned to speed things up as time for the show was running out. "Since you were the one that put the word out about your Captain dancing are you worried about what might happen to you, now that you're out of the closet so to speak?"

"Um, maybe a little bit but not really, Cap's already paved the way and now there's a whole bunch of us not just one person. With the support of the Chief Houts for our program the number of people who would give me a bad time is limited substantially, besides no one can compete with the phantom when it comes to practical jokes." Chet thumbed to himself to let everyone who wasn't already in the know, know that he was the Phantom he talked about.

There were more questions to ask but time had run out so the men were allowed to walk off stage as on the screen behind them played Chet Kelly while he was saying and dancing to the words of the song I'll never grow up, while the choir sang back up. All seven men were on the balls of their feet with a rhythm in their steps as they marched off.

"So, can we finally get back to life as usual now and just be firefighters?" Marco wanted to know once their mics had been removed and they were changing out of their costumes.

Author's note

This chapter was longer than I wanted it to be but I can't choose any part I want to delete. So here it is hope it's not too much repetition. One more and we're done I promise.

For those who want to know, My son is fine. The doctors at the instacare that first looked at the x-rays were afraid that I wouldn't take him to the specialist so they exaggerated the seriousness of the fracture saying at one point that it was a moderate displacement. It truth there was no displacement and although it is surely painful the fracture didn't even go all the way through the bone, it is however close to the growth plate so they wanted it looked at. Prognosis excellent he's to wear a sling for a total of ten days and then start using it to keep it from stiffening up.

Thanks for all the well wishes in our behalf and sorry I worried you. I'm still mad at the doc's that didn't give it to me straight.

P.S. My beta is on strike please forgive any mistakes and anyone interested in crossing the picket line is welcome to apply.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Life getting back to normal was a relative thought process. Jenny not only got her daddy at school for show and tell, she did it before his next shift and Uncle Johnny too. Together they gave a fire safety demonstration and handed out a lot of material supplied by headquarters. The children loved the plastic replica fire hats and first aid kits that looked like matchbooks. It was no dance demonstration but Jenny was alright with that, they let her be the pretend victim while they demonstrated how to hold pressure on a bleeding wound. Of course then they had to go down the hall and do the same in Chris's class. Both teachers combined other classes so that more students could get the message and gifts.

-0-

On their next shift back Hank came into the locker room while the men were changing into their uniforms and leaned against one of the lockers laughing and shaking his head. Of course everyone wanted to know what was so funny.

They all had to wait for the Cap to stop laughing though so he could tell them.

"I just got a call from Captain Martin," Hank started then laughed some more before he could continue. "Seems our friend Craig Brice arrived at work last shift. . . . Whistling a tune." Hank laughed some more, "Then several times during the day he was noticed stepping rhythmically and gracefully turning around the other men when they were in tight situations between the engine and Squad. He was even seen on multiple occasions. . . . Smiling. Captain Martin wants to know what drugs we've been slipping into him over here and if it's safe to give them to the rest of his crew."

Everyone joined Captain Stanley in laughter after they took a moment to register their surprise.

-0-

Captain Stanley was asked to present his report on the benefits of Ballet at the state fire Safety convention in San Francisco in late October so the, Red Hot Seven, kept practicing at least once a week so that they could put on a demonstration. Brice never missed a practice and everyone started noticing that he looked like he was having fun. Most of them noticed that he was totally different, well at least significantly different personality wise in tights than he was in uniform.

-0-

One of the smaller publications that had done articles on the Peter Pan production but together a paperback picture book containing photo's taken during the production. They must have had some tie in with someone on at least one of the committees because they had photo's starting when rehearsals first started and including the meet and greet they held after the first matinee performance. Everyone loved the pictures of the little cancer patient and the six kids huddled around Brice with the same orthopedic boots on. John and Hank really enjoyed the smile on young Adam Wickler's face. So much had changed for the better for him in his young life.

As far as they knew everyone involved in the production got one of the books. It became evident that a few others were picking them up too as fellow firefighters and hospital staff started dropping by the station to get them autographed. Headquarters put a stop to that and a table was set up at the Firemen's fall picnic for everyone who wanted to get their books or whatever autographed.

JoAnne DeSoto was first in line that day; she had a whole stack of books to get autographed. One for her to show off, one each for Jenny, Chris and Roy to put away and one each for the grandparents, aunts and uncles. A big part of her Christmas shopping was done. Momma Lopez wasn't far back in the line with her own stack of books. She was very proud of her boy and the relatives were sure to know that if they didn't already.

While the main Seven were getting writer's cramp their opponents for the evening baseball game were doing their best to intimidate them. However the Team that included station 51 enjoyed an impressive victory. There had been some very impressive catches in both the infield and outfield to help demonstrate the increased jumping ability gained through Ballet. Even Brice made and impressive jump catch from the short stop position for the losing team.

-0-

Marco's Semi-Pro Soccer team took second place in the play offs that year and Marco was becoming more and more a believer in the benefits of Ballet but he wasn't quite ready to start talking to his team about it.

-0-

One week before the San Francisco convention Hank was sitting in the office doing paperwork when he looked out the window to see a woman helping an older man toward the station. It was clear from some distance that the man was having trouble moving and was in obvious medical trouble.

"GAGE, DeSoto, Break out the equipment, get it to the office!" Hank yelled as he opened the door and aided the women to get her husband inside and sitting in a chair just as the rest of his men were rushing through the door with the boxes off the squad.

Once he was sat down the man very painfully raised his head and looked up at all those who were there to help him. They all gasped in shock when they realized it was Chief Houts.

"I don't need that kind of help," the Chief grimaced and waved the paramedics away, "I just came from the hospital there's nothing left that you can do for me."

A few more catched breaths and grimaces and he offered an explanation to the concerned and confused men surrounding him.

"The grandchildren came by for a back yard barbeque last night and of course they all had to have their traditional pony rides courtesy of Grandpa. Trouble is their getting a little bigger than they once were."

"And Grandpa isn't as young as he once was." his wife interjected, "I've been telling you for years you needed to start carrying them around one at a time instead of three or four at a time."

"Yeah, well I guess I'm finally going to have to start and listen to you," The Chief grimaced once again.

"The reason I'm here is, well I was wondering if your dance thing could get me standing up straight again before this convention next week, I've got to do something, I can't very well try and stand up there looking like this."

Hank did his best to make the man comfortable then made a suggestion, "I think it would be best if we got you into Jennie first. She can check you over and tell you what moves you need to do to help your situation. They if you'd like sir your welcome to join us after supper while we work out behind the trucks."

Chief Houts did return to the station, with tights, in time for Dinner, he bought in for both he and his wife and even supplied a candle for the middle of the table. His wife laughed and the attempt at romance. The men were a little nervous serving not just the chief but also his wife, but Marco was assigned to cook as soon as the Chief asked if he could buy in so they were confident it was edible.

Along with the candle he also brought written instructions from Jennie Martin on the stretches he needed to do and the men worked together to help him with them as his wife first watched but then joined in.

With a few extra sessions with Jennie and some muscle relaxants Chief Houts was standing straight when he introduced his newest pet project, and the Red Hot Seven didn't disappoint either him or the group watching them perform. Hank was well prepared with a slide show and statistics for his presentation and then the men were taken back to the airport and flown home to go back to work. They did find nice juicy stakes waiting for them on their next shift, compliments of the Chief.

Chief Houts continued to stop by to work out with the men and word started getting out when he showed up a couple of nights when they weren't on shift.

-0-

The holidays came and went and the workouts started to slack off a little due to the extra work load. Hank did participate in a dance performance with his daughter again just before Christmas. Roy even danced a part in his Daughter's school Christmas play but it was hard to tell because he was wearing a Santa costume complete with extra stuffing and a full beard.

When the holidays were over snug waistbands on their uniforms convinced the men to start up the workouts once again but they kept it pretty much to the days they were on shift.

-0-

At the year in review awards banquet the end of January, the men were recognized for their contribution to the positive image of the fire department and more than any of them wanted to be told was said from the podium. That was followed by announcing the Captain of the year award that year was going to Captain Henry B. Stanley, for his devotion to his men.

-0-

In early February Hank opened an interdepartmental envelope from Headquarters and when he pulled out all the Memos and station openings he found a letter included. The letter was addressed to the Dancing firemen care of headquarters and the return address was from the parents of Rebecca Sears.

Wondering who Rebecca was Hank slid his letter opener under the flap and cut the envelope opened. By the time he was finished reading the letter he had tears streaming down his face. When he gathered his men in the kitchen they were relieved to find out he had a letter to read to them and that it wasn't something more serious.

"This is from the Parents of Rebecca Sears." Hank began

"Dear Firemen."

Words cannot express the feelings of gratitude we have for you and your efforts at this time in our life. What you did for our daughter was not only wonderful it made every day of the rest of her life fuller and happier.

From the day you helped her celebrate her last birthday she insisted that we call her blue Bell and she wore the fairy wings you gave her every day. Toward the end we had to pin them to her because she couldn't get the straps on around all the IV's that were so needed to keep her pain free.

We buried our little princess last Friday she was wearing her fairy costume complete with the wings she was given the day she came to your production. They were a little worn but they brought her so much joy and she loved them so. If you can please pass along our appreciation to the little girl who autographed them, the JEN on the lower wing was as much of a treasure to our daughter as were the wings it was written on.

We can only hope that this letter finds you all well and that you can understand what your efforts meant to us and still do.

Ron and Tina Sears, Rebecca's parents.

There wasn't a dry eye in the room when Hank finished reading. After a moment to compose themselves Craig Brice was called at home and the letter read to him over the phone. The letter was then tucked away in Roy's locker. He would take it home and he and his wife would decide if and when to read and explain it to their little Jennifer.

-0-

Station 51's basketball team was getting a lot of attention as they proceeded to go undefeated through their season. They were the only station that had all six of their men earn a spot in the impromptu slam dunk contest, Brice was there too and no one was surprised that Hank took the prize they were surprised when Mike came in second and Brice took third.

-0-

Late one afternoon at the station when they had just returned from a fire a man moving a little slowly ducked under the bay doors as they were closing and stood there facing the men getting out of their trucks. He held papers in his hand and was swallowing hard trying to find his voice.

"Can we help you?" Hank asked.

"I've been sent to talk with a Captain Stanley," the man spoke very nervously.

"That would be me," Hank stepped forward and started motioning the man to the office. Rather than follow him the man thrust the papers in his hand at the confused captain who looked at them and noticed they were instructions from Jennie Martin.

"I'm told that you can help me get back on duty faster," the boot fireman from station 98 offered an explanation for his presence at the station.

The young man was invited to join them for a quick dinner and they were just gathering to start their warm ups when the side door opened.

Hank went to see who was there and was greeted with eight men in Tights, Two of them fellow captains one a battalion chief, each one holding papers in their hands on letterhead Hank knew came from Jennie's office.

"The new Captain over at 86's tried to teach us how to play rugby," Was given as an explanation and Hank lowered his head to hide his chuckle.

"Rugby in now outlawed as an on shift physical fitness exercise," Battalion Chief Walters added.

"Stoker, DeSoto," Hank stepped back into the bay, "You better pull the trucks outside, we're going to need more room tonight."

The trucks were pulled out and the bay doors closed again but before the newcomers were ready to get involved one of them had a question to ask.

"You're not, um, you guy's wouldn't a, tell anybody we were here or anything would you?"

"Oh you mean about dancing thing?" Chet Kelly was the one to rightfully step forward, "as far as all those outsiders are concerned this is a 'Career Development Workshop'."

That worked for most of the men, the rest were just hurting too much to care.

It took a few weeks but the men were finally able to move comfortable again, this was their last session with the Red Hot Seven before they were to return to work.

The trucks were pulled outside once again and the doors were just closing when the doorbell rang. Mike answered the door to find Doctors, Morton, Early and Brackett standing at the door with a smirking Nurse Dixie McCall standing behind them. Dr. Morton was wearing a sweat suit while Dr. Early was pulling a long trench coat tight around him and holding it with both hands.

Not wanting to embarrass the men in the bay Hank was called to the office to deal with the visitors.

"How can we help you?"

Dr. Morton was quick to step forward, "I got ruffed up by a member of a biker gang and well, I've been noticing how fast you guys get back to work after your injuries I was hoping you could help me. I've brought instructions from one of the Doctors that recommend the Ballet but I don't really understand what these terms mean or how to do this stuff."

Hank looked at the papers in his hands and he understood the terms written there very well.

"Please I'll do anything to get back on my feet again." Dr. Morton nearly groveled.

"Sure we can help you." Hank smiled warmly, Dr. Morton had come a long way from the day he ordered him out of the treatment room when Hank was first starting his Ballet lessons. "Are you men here to help him?" Hank turned his attention to Dr. Early and Brackett."

Dr. Early was growing redder and redder as he pulled his trench coat tighter and tighter around his body.

Kell Brackett, with a growing smile on his face, finally gave him a nudge in the middle of his back.

"I, um, Well I a, sort of. . . lost a bet." Dr. Early finally spit out.

"Two of them," Dr. Brackett spoke up from behind him showing two fingers on his hand as Dixie smirked uncontrollably behind them both. "We're here to make sure he pays up." Dr. Brackett indicated both he and Dixie.

Hank stood looking on in silence with a question on his face. Five deep breaths, three rolled eyes, and one resolved gasp later Dr. Early released his hold on his trench coat and Dr. Bracket helped him remove it to reveal Dr. Early was wearing a set of bright Pink tights.

Dixie bent over laughing and no one in the office, except for Dr. Early, could keep from joining her.

The new comers were eventually lead into the bay where everyone was quick to see why they heard laughter and were unable to keep from joining them. Still they managed to start with warm ups and stretches as those more experienced were assigned to teach the new comers the proper way of doing things.

The terms of the bet were that Dr. Early had to continue on with the workouts for as long as Dr. Morton took to recover and when Dr. Morton was back at work Dr. Early was not only relieved that he had returned weeks before he thought he would but Ballet as a therapy also had a new believer.

-0-

In April the Station 51's basketball team won their conference championship with only one loss for the season. The following June Hank Stanley was surprised to be one of ten men who were to be recognized in a special ceremony at the Governor's mansion and awarded the title of Father of the year.

His children had to agree he deserved it, so did the five men left at the station that kind of thought of him as their father at times.

The End


End file.
